Felt Good on My Lips
by crc2023
Summary: A/U What if Kate had two kids before she met Rick? This is the story of Morgan Beckett, 17 year old daughter of Kate Beckett and stepdaughter of Rick Castle. Read author's note for more timeline specifics. First multichapter fic
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I took a couple liberties with the timeline for this story. I have Castle and Beckett beginning their partnership in 2007, and getting married in 2012. This story is therefor a future fic, set in 2017. Morgan and Ryan are Kate's biological kids, Alexis is still biologically Rick's, and Kelly is Kate and Rick's daughter. This story may seem to start out slow, but I promise I know where I'm going with it and have some chapters already written out, so please be kind and stick around to see where it goes. I will explain a lot in the first couple chapters.

**I own nothing. **

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Morgan was laying on her bed reading the book that her class had been assigned that day in English, when she heard the front door open and shut loudly, rationally knowing the only person it could be was her mom. Morgan shut her eyes tightly knowing exactly what was coming next. She put her bookmark in her book and laid it on her nightstand waiting for the inevitable.

"Morgan Johanna Beckett!" Came up through the hall of the stairwell and Morgan knew it was time, "Get your ass down these stairs immediately!"

Morgan quickly hopped off her bed and raced across the hallway to her sister's room. She burst through the door to find Kelly playing on the floor with her dolls and Legos.

"Hey Kel!" Morgan exclaimed knowing time was of the essence.

"Sissy!" Kelly said with her cute 2-almost-3-year-old lisp.

"Wanna help your favorite sister out?"

Kelly just cocked her head to the side, obviously confused.

"Look, Kel, all you have to do is go downstairs with me and turn the charm on to mom."

"Mama downstairs?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah! Mom's home! And she wants to see your cute face!" Morgan told her and knew she had her convinced when she saw Kelly's smile at the mention of their mom.

"Okay." Kelly said with a shrug as she got up and stood in front of her sister with her arms up, clearly wanting to be carried down the stairs.

"Morgan! Now!" They heard as they made their way out of Kelly's room.

"Mama mad!" Kelly tried to whisper in her sister's ear as they descended the stairs to find their mom waiting at the bottom.

"Oh, you're darn right she is, little miss," Kate said as she reached out to take Kelly out of Morgan's arms, "And your sister tying to use you as a shield isn't going to work this time," Kate finished with a pointed glare at Morgan.

"Shit." Morgan said, defeated.

"You're just asking for more trouble, aren't you?" Kate scolded her as they walked into the living room.

"Sit." Kate told Morgan as she pointed at the couch, "Don't even think about moving."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Morgan replied sarcastically.

"Rick!" Kate yelled throughout the loft to get her husband, "Come get the only child we have that isn't going to send me to an early grave!"

Rick Castle walked out of his office dazed after spending his day cooped up trying to finish his latest book.

"Uh oh," Rick sing-singed as he took in the situation in front of him, "What'd you do this time, little B?"

"I think, until I've heard exactly what mom has to say, I'd rather not incriminate myself."

"Oooh, smart move," Rick replied as he gathered Kelly out of her mom's arms and made his way to the kitchen to start dinner.

"Do I need a lawyer?" Morgan asked trying to lighten the mood.

Kate gave her a hardened glare that had her shrinking in her seat.

"Now, would you like to explain to me why I got a call from Principal Lewis today?"

"Cause she's got a massive hard on for you and wants you to leave Rick and run away with her?"

"Morgan. Be serious, please!"

"You can't tell me it's not true, Mom! Even Rick can see it!"

"It's totally true," Rick piped in from the kitchen, which made Morgan smirk and Kate roll her eyes.

"Whatever." Kate replied, not having a proper comeback, "At least Principal Lewis's _supposed_ infatuation with me doesn't distract her from punishing my daughter!"

"Oh come on, mom! She totally overreacted!"

"Oh, so you didn't ditch history to go to the gym and shoot?"

"Well, I mean, yeah, I did. But at least I didn't leave school grounds!"

"So that makes it ok to skip class?"

"Yes!" Morgan replied emphatically before seeing Kate's glare harden even more, "I mean…No… Not at all…"

"You're grounded for the week. Home and school, that's it. No basketball."

"What? Mom, come on, that's totally unfair!"

"You wanna make it 2?"

"No…"

"Good answer, sweets," Kate smirked.

"What about going to school early to get some shots in?" Morgan asked.

"What part of no basketball did you not understand?"

"But mom! Season starts in less than a month and me and Coach have been working on my step back jumper!"

"And I'm sure it will still be there after a week."

"You're gonna feel really bad if I've lost all of my athletic ability by next week…"

"You're right, I will, because that means you'd be home more and I'll have to put up with you for longer periods of time," Kate laughed as she stood up and smacked her daughter lightly upside the head.

"Hey! That's child abuse, Detective!" Morgan teased, "Rick! You saw! Call Tío and Uncle Ryan to come and arrest her!"

"Oh, nuh uh! I'm not going anywhere near that," Rick replied.

"Good answer, babe" Kate said as she patted his cheek.

Rick flashed a huge grin her way before turning towards Morgan and sticking his tongue out at her, making her and Kelly laugh.

"What's so funny, missy?" Kate asked as she walked around the kitchen island to get her daughter out of her high chair.

"Daddy" Kelly exclaimed before sticking her tongue out just like her father had done.

"Oh! Did daddy stick his tongue out? Even though he knows he's not supposed to?" Kate teased.

"Busted by my own flesh and blood," Castle added dramatically.

"Oh cheer up, Rick! It could always be worse," Morgan declared.

"What could be worse?" Alexis asked walking down the stairs and joining the family in the kitchen.

"Your dad being betrayed by his youngest," Kate answered with a laugh.

Castle continued pouting while the rest laughed, even getting Kelly involved before Kate walked up to him and kissed the pout off his face.

"Cheer up, buttercup," Kate cooed.

"You could always make it up to me later," Castle smirked.

Twin shouts of "Dad!" and "Rick!" were heard throughout the loft followed by groans and mumbles.

"Oh, like you're under the impression we don't have sex," Kate insisted before turning back to her husband, "And you can count on it, stud."

Castle's smile couldn't have got any bigger as both girls groaned and Morgan made fake gagging sounds.

"Hey! Where's Ryan?" Kate asked the rest of the family.

"Probably upstairs watching porn like a normal 14 year old boy," Morgan answered nonchalantly with a smirk.

"Oh geez, Morgan. Could you maybe turn down the sarcasm?" Kate groaned to her daughter as she grimaced, "Nobody needs to have that image forced into their mind!"

Kate looked toward her husband silently asking him to go upstairs and get their son.

"You have had the talk with him, haven't you?" Morgan asked her mom.

"Of course we have! Like 3 years go when he started going through puberty."

"And you haven't mentioned it since?" Alexis asked getting into the conversation.

"No? Why? Should we? Do you two know something I don't?"

"No... nothing at all," Morgan answered while Alexis shook her head. The corner of both of their mouth's threatening to turn up into a smirk.

Kate turned on her best detective face before addressing both girls, "Tell me what you know, now!"

"All I know is that he is quite the talk of the freshman ladies these days…" Morgan admitted.

"What kind of talk?"

"Oh you know, the usual," Morgan answered before using her high-pitch voice to continue, "Oh my gosh, Ryan Beckett is so hot! He looks so big and strong!" she finished before her and Alexis busted out laughing.

"You guys really think we need to talk to him again? Honestly?"

"Uhm, yeah, probably," Alexis murmured with a nod.

"Oh god, why did I have to have a boy?"

"I don't know," Morgan declared, "It's too bad you didn't have another girl just like me!"

"Yeah then we'd all be in trouble," Alexis teased her sister.

"Hey!" Morgan gasped before throwing a dishtowel at her.

Before anybody could retaliate, Rick and Ryan came walking down the stairs with matching horrified expressions on their faces. All three girls looked on in wonder with Kelly playing with her toys in front of the TV.

Kate quickly tried to diffuse the situation that had yet to escalate to what she was afraid of happening, "Let's eat!" she announced.

"Wait! Aren't we gonna hear the story of why these two walked down the stairs looking like they just killed somebody?" Morgan asked indignantly.

"No, Morgan," Kate chastised her daughter, trying to get everyone wrangled to the dinner table.

The family quickly dug into dinner, with Morgan and Alexis sharing looks across the table, while Rick and Ryan still looked traumatized and Kate was trying to get Kelly to eat her food rather than throw it all over the place.

Finally Morgan broke the awkward silence, "Come on, bro! What'd you do? Get caught whacking to porn?" Morgan ended with a laugh as Alexis let a small chuckle escape.

"Oh my god! Morgan!" Kate yelled across the table, "There is no reason to talk like that at the dinner table!"

Before Kate could chastise Morgan anymore Ryan started sticking up for himself, "No Morgan, unlike you, I don't have to do... that..." He finished looking up at his mom embarrassed.

"Sweetie, it's a totally natural thing, nothing to be embarrassed about," Kate said quietly, concerned about her son.

"Oh my god!" Ryan exclaimed burying his head in his hands, "Can we please not talk about this? Like ever!" He pleaded finally looking up into his mother's eyes.

Kate looked across the table at Rick silently asking him to fix this.

"Uhm, I really don't think we need to have this conversation right now," He commented.

"Ugh, fine. Take all my fun away," Morgan whined.

Kate lightly smacked her arm, "Respect your family, Mo."

The rest of the dinner passed uneventfully with awkward glances between all of them and after everybody was finished eating the three kids cleared the table and did the dishes while Kate and Rick took Kelly upstairs to get ready for bed.

"So what did you actually walk in on?" Kate asked Rick while Kelly was busy playing in the tub.

"Uhh, well, you know how sometimes when I have to go on a book tour for a while and we both get lonely and some picture might get sent?"

"Yeah…." Kate replied thoroughly confused.

"He may or may not have been taking a picture to send…"

"Oh dear god. Why do our kids set out to make our lives miserable?" Kate complained.

"What are you gonna do?" Rick asked.

"Oh no, not just me, we! We are going to talk to him about respecting himself."

Rick turned to Kelly who was still oblivious to everything around her, "You'll never put me through anything like this, will you bug?"

"Dada pay!" Kelly exclaimed while splashing in the water.

Kate and Rick laughed at her before grabbing her out of the tub and drying her off to put her in her pajamas and get her in bed.

The two walked downstairs after putting Kelly to bed to find their other three kids sitting on the couch watching TV.

They walked over to the trio and Kate grabbed the remote to shut the TV off before her and Rick sat down on the coffee table to talk to them.

"Oh no! Who did it?" Morgan asked quickly.

"Uh, I think that was you, Morg." Alexis replied.

"None of you did anything." Kate told them to shut them up, "Rick and I thought it was time to address, and re-address, some things."

The three kids shared scared looks between them before looking back at their parents.

"We feel that it is important to talk to you guys about respecting your bodies and how nothing that is sent to someone, whether it is through text message or that snappy thing you guys do is ever actually gone. It can stay out there forever, in the cloud or sky or whatever," Kate finished.

"Ok, 1. Mom it's snapchat, and 2. Why are you lecturing us on sending nudes? That's just stupid," Morgan said with disgust.

Kate just looked at Castle and then to Ryan hoping that he was getting the message they were sending.

"Ooohhh…" Alexis said when she finally put the pieces together, she then softly chuckled.

"What?" Morgan asked, still oblivious to what was going on.

Alexis looked at her stepbrother, who looked like he was about to die of embarrassment, and then looked back at Morgan as she finally caught on.

"Oh-ho, this is too good!" Morgan exclaimed excitedly before getting a glare from both of her parents. She quickly ignored their pleading looks before throwing her arm over her brother's shoulder, "Bro, we need to talk about a couple things. Girl to guy here, no girl should ever want to get a dick pic, if she does, she's not someone you should ever want to associate with."

"Morgan," her mom pleaded, "Please don't make things worse."

"What? I'm just telling him the truth! Am I not right, Alexis?"

Alexis nodded shyly before trying to cheer her brother up, "Look, Ry, I'm sure that whoever the girl is, is a very sweet girl, but you don't know who else she's gonna show that picture to. You can never trust anybody."

"Yeah dude, look what happened to all those celebrities a couple years ago. Those were some freaky pics that I'm sure none of them ever thought would get out. Even Mom's arch nemesis Natalie Rhodes had some pictures in there."

"Wait, how do you know what those pictures were like?" Rick asked curiously.

"I, uh, don't. You know just people talk…" Morgan tried to backtrack before realizing it was futile, "Fine, I was curious. Sue me!"

That made the family laugh, which quickly eased most of the tension out of the room.

"Do you get what they're trying to say though, bud?" Kate asked her son as she ran her hand through his hair tenderly.

"Yeah, it's just that Emma had been taking about it for so long and I finally got the nerve up to do it."

"Finally got it up to do it, eh?" Morgan joked at her brother before laughing, then realizing she was the only one that was laughing and stopped, "Wait! Emma? As in Emma Woods, Emma?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Uh cause Emma's my age, dude! Going for the older women, eh?"

"OK, Morgan. I think your brother has endured enough teasing. Let's just all remember the lesson from tonight, yeah?"

"Don't get caught sending nudes by your stepdad?" Morgan joked.

"Not funny, Morgan."

"Yeah, ok mom, we get it. Now can we please get back to the Bachelor? He was just about to take someone on a solo date!"

"Fine," Kate approved before handing the remote back to the group as she got up to go take a shower.

Rick quickly got up and follower her into their room to see her stripping off her clothes on her way to the bathroom. He walked in behind her following her every move.

"Soooo that was fun," Rick started she reached into the shower to turn it on.

"I don't think fun is the word I would use," she countered.

"Okay, so not fun. But definitely informative."

Kate stepped into the shower and closed the glass door, "Are you talking about Morgan? Or the useless information that the girls gave to Ryan?"

"Uh, well both, but mainly Morgan. I can't believe she went online and looked at those pictures."

"Oh, come on, Castle. Don't be a hypocrite, I know you looked at them as well, even the ones of Natalie Rhodes."

"Yeah, but I'm a man… and like her father, so yeah, it's weird," He laughed with Kate.

Kate was finishing washing the shampoo out of her hair when she felt the rush of cold air hit her that let her know her husband had entered the shower with her. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her before leaning his head down and kissing her neck.

Kate sighed happily, "Look, you know Morgan, chances are she really was just curious and wanted to have a good laugh. Don't think too much into things."

"Yeah, okay, I get it. But can we please not talk about the kids when we're naked together in the shower?"

"Oh yeah, I'm all for less talking…" Kate grinned as she turned around and wrapped her arms around Rick's neck before leaning up on her toes to kiss him.

While their parents where doing whatever in their room, the three teenagers were enjoying laughing and making fun of the Bachelor.

"I can't imagine being in a house full of girls that were all kissing the same guy for that long," Alexis commented as they watched another girl start to kiss the bachelor on the screen.

"Oh, I know. It's completely disgusting," Morgan agreed, "But it makes for some damn good TV."

"I don't think I'd mind being the Bachelor," Ryan commented.

"Of course you wouldn't, nude boy," Morgan teased her brother with a laugh.

"Ha-ha, very funny, sis!"

The show came to an end and the three teens made their way upstairs to get ready for bed.

Morgan walked into her room after showering and brushing her teeth and picked up her phone from where it had been charging on her nightstand. She woke the phone up to find she had multiple texts; a couple from friends, but one from the person she wanted to talk to most.

She read the text, which simply said: _Hey babe. Hope you didn't get in too much trouble! Do you think you're gonna be able to get away tomorrow? _

Morgan instantly smirked and got giddy inside when she read the text. She quickly thought about what excuse she could use with her coach to get out of weight training. It had become a regular occurrence for Morgan to talk her coach, who also happened to be the weight training teacher, into letting her skip class to go do whatever for the period, as long as she was back before her next class and got a workout in outside of school.

Morgan had since taken that time to walk to the coffee shop across the street from school to meet up with her secret significant other. She wasn't sure how she had gotten away with it for as long as she had, but here they were almost three months into the semester and she had yet to get caught.

She quickly typed a text back saying that she was pretty sure she could get out tomorrow and that she wasn't in too much trouble, although she was grounded for a week.

Morgan laid back in her bed thinking about how and when exactly she was going to tell her parents she had started seeing someone. With the feelings she was feeling, she knew it had to be soon. She had only had two boyfriends before, only one of the two actually getting to meet her parents. But this time it was different, not only had she been seeing this person for three months, this time, it was a girl.

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Sorry for any mistakes. I did try and proof read it multiple times, but I'm sure some things snuck through. Let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Still going a little slow, but it will pick up in a couple chapters, just stick around!

Still own nothing.

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Morgan had met Ashlyn in the coffee shop across from school the first day she went. The two were the only ones in the shop at the time and had hit it off instantly. They met there 4 times a week for two weeks before Ashlyn asked Morgan out on a proper date, to which Morgan had immediately said yes. If it weren't for the small detail that her parents didn't know yet, the two would be inseparable.

Ashlyn was a freshman at NYU studying biology. She was goofy and fun and Morgan couldn't get enough of her. There were a few nights that Morgan had told her parents she was going out with friends, but she ultimately ended up with Ashlyn, but she always felt guilty lying to her parents, especially her mom.

Morgan and her mom shared a special bond, neither was afraid to talk to the other about anything. Morgan had always been open with her mom about the boys she liked, or when she was dating Todd. But this was different, 1. Ashlyn was a girl, 2. She was in college, and 3. Morgan had now kept it from her for 3 months. She just kept putting off and was now stuck in the hole she had dug herself.

The next morning Morgan woke up early to try and get her run and workout in since she planned on missing weight training again today and she now wasn't allowed to stay after school. She was almost out the door when she heard her mom call for her.

"You want a workout buddy?" Kate asked as she walked up to her daughter, already dressed and ready to go.

"Of course, mama!" Morgan replied before grabbing her arm and pulling her out the door towards the elevator to head down to the gym in their apartment building.

The duo arrived at the gym and both set up at a treadmill for a quick run. After Morgan's 30 minutes were up she wandered over to the lifting equipment figuring her mom would stay on the treadmill the whole time.

Morgan had gone through her sets of dumbbell curls, tricep dips, and pulls, and she was on her last set of bench press when her mom came over to help spot.

"I don't understand why you feel the need to workout in the morning when you have to workout again during the day in weight training," Kate observed.

Morgan finished out the last reps of her set and racked the bar back, then laid her head back on the bench to look up at her mom, "Uh... well you know, can't ever get enough," she laughed nervously.

"Just don't burn yourself out before season even gets here, sweetie."

"I won't mom, don't worry"

"Are you sure you're ok, love?" Kate asked noticing the slight shift in Morgan recently.

"Yeah, mom. Everything's really good actually!"

"Alright. Just remember, me and Rick are here for you, no matter what."

"I know, mom," Morgan got up off the bench to rack her weights.

The two left the small gym and headed back to the loft. Once in the elevator, Morgan finally got up the nerve to ask her mom the question that she had been meaning to ask her all morning, "Hey mom," She started before stammering out the next part, "Do you think we could have dinner tonight? Just me, you and Rick?"

Kate was taken aback by the question and also the seriousness coming from her daughter, the daughter who made everything into a joke and knew how to make everyone laugh. "Of course we can, sweetie," Kate replied as she pulled her daughter into a hug that lasted until the elevator reached their floor.

Kate exited the elevator more worried about her daughter than before. Obviously whatever it was that Morgan needed to talk to them about was important, but Kate couldn't begin to imagine what was going on in her daughter's mind.

They entered the loft to find everyone else already up and eating breakfast.

"Good morning!" Rick boomed at the two.

"Morning, Rick," Morgan replied, "I'm gonna go take a quick shower."

Kate walked over to the rest of her family and gave Rick a quick kiss before picking Kelly up out of her high chair and sitting down with her on her lap.

Kate looked over at Ryan and Alexis remembering what Morgan had just asked her in the elevator, "Do you two think you could take Kelly over to Gram's for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, of course," Alexis answered skeptically.

Ryan looked deep in thought before asking his mom, "Why?"

"Rick and I just need to have dinner with Morgan to try and figure out what's going on in that hard head of hers."

Rick looked over at Kate curiously before she gave him a look that clearly said 'I'll tell you later'.

Alexis and Ryan seemed to accept that answer before finishing their breakfast and then getting up to go finish getting ready for school.

After the two had cleared the room, Rick looked to Kate for an explanation.

"I have no idea," she told him with a sigh, "She just asked if we could have dinner tonight. Just the three of us."

"Seriously?" Rick asked surprised.

"No, Rick. I'm lying," Kate deadpanned back.

"No, I'm just surprised is all."

"Yeah, that makes two of us," Kate replied before getting up and handing Kelly to Rick and heading into their room to get ready for work.

"Well, looks like it's just me and you, monkey," Rick looked down at his youngest.

"Pancake?" Kelly asked her dad, holding up a piece of her pancake for her dad. Rick ate the piece out of her hands before blowing raspberries on her neck making her squeal with laughter.

"Let's go get you ready for the day, Kel."

By the time everyone was ready to walk out the door, the kids had 10 minutes to get to school, leaving Kate and Rick no time to try and get more information out of Morgan.

The three left the loft to school, Morgan still buzzing with nervous energy that had been flowing through her all morning. She knew as soon as she got to see Ashlyn she would calm down. Ashlyn seemed to have that affect on her, which was one of the reasons Morgan knew it was time to tell her parents.

The walk to school was quiet. Most of the teen's time was spent on their phones. The three went their separate ways as they entered the school, all yelling a quick 'Bye'.

Morgan spent her first and second periods discreetly texting Ashlyn, something she had learned to master over the years of phones not being allowed during school hours. They had made plans to meet at the coffee shop and then make their way to Ashlyn's dorm, something that had started happening three weeks ago. The two had yet to have sex, and Morgan knew it was because she was nervous. Not nervous in the sense of having sex because she had done that before with her ex. It was more of how much she liked Ashlyn, and she knew having sex would intensify those feelings and she didn't know if she could handle facing those feelings without having told her parents.

Of course Ashlyn has been completely understanding throughout everything. She was always helping Morgan talk through her feelings and let her know what was going on inside her head, something that Morgan always had trouble doing. Knowing that she was Morgan's first girlfriend had made her nervous at first, but now she just loved being able to experience all of Morgan's feelings with her, as her first.

By the time third period rolled around Morgan was practically jumping up and down in her coach's office waiting to leave.

"Go on, then," Coach Chandler told her, "But you know the rules, Morgan!"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get caught and be back in time for 4th period," Morgan replied as she all but ran out of her office.

Once she had made it out past the front door she texted Ashlyn to let her know she was on her way over. As she walked into the coffee shop she quickly scanned the room for anybody who might recognize her. Fully satisfied that she knew no one, and nobody knew her, she walked over to her girlfriend before leaning over and giving her a kiss that didn't last long enough for Morgan's liking.

"Mmmm, hey babe," Morgan said after they broke apart.

Ashlyn was wearing her typical flannel button up shirt, skinny black jeans, and her classic converse Chuck Taylor's with her sandy blonde hair falling in waves past her shoulders. She never wore a lot of make up, usually just a little bit of mascara. Morgan loved that Ashlyn could put so little effort in to getting ready and still look amazing.

"Hello to you too," Ashlyn replied with a smirk, still recovering from the kiss.

"How has your day been?" Morgan asked as she sat down next to Ashlyn, while taking the coffee out of her girlfriend's hands to take a quick sip.

Ashlyn smiled at the familiarity of the action before replying, "It's been good. I just had the one class this morning. How about yours?"

"Uh… pretty good," Morgan replied nervously knowing she had to tell her about the talk she was planning on having wither her parents tonight.

"Hey," Ashlyn said sensing something was wrong; she put her hand on Morgan's knee to try and calm her down, "What's going on?"

"Uh, well, I talked to my mom this morning and me, her and Rick are going to have dinner tonight, and I was planning on telling them about you. If that's ok with you, of course," Morgan told her; clearly nervous about how her girlfriend was going to react.

Ashlyn immediately pulled her girlfriend in for a quick kiss before saying, "Of course, babe. You know I'll support you with whatever you do!"

"Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just nervous is all. I really don't think they're gonna be mad that I'm dating you, just how I've gone about the whole thing."

"And that's understandable, babe, they're allowed to be a little pissed that you've kept this from them for 3 months, but you'll make it through it fine. If your parents are even half the parents that you've made them out to be they will just be happy for you." Ashlyn reassured her.

"You want me to say it, don't you?" Morgan smirked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Ashlyn replied innocently.

"Of course not, but you're right," Morgan laughed before leaning in for another kiss. Just before her lips could connect with her girlfriend's, Ashlyn pulled back quickly.

"What?" Morgan asked at the scared look on Ashlyn's face.

"Uh, would you say you're about a 5'9" reincarnate of your mom? Gorgeous brunette with scary long legs?" Ashlyn asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Most people think we're sisters or something creepy, usually. Why the sudden interest in my mom? Are you planning on leaving me for her?" Morgan teased.

"No babe! Geez." Ashlyn replied quickly, "But uh, I do think your parents just walked in."

"What?!" Morgan asked horrified.

"Don't turn around!" Ashlyn grabbed her before she could fully turn around.

"Oh my God! What are we gonna do? I can't get caught skipping class! I'm already grounded! If they catch me out here I'll be grounded until I'm 30!" Morgan ranted, "Not to mention I'm here with my girlfriend, who they know nothing about!"

"Hey, calm down, babe," Ashlyn tried her best at calming her girlfriend down, "Look, they don't know me, so I'll go distract them and you can slip out undetected. They won't suspect a thing," Ashlyn told her, trying her best to remain calm herself.

"Ok, good plan! I'll meet you around the corner. Good luck!"

Ashlyn got up out of her chair, trying to calm her nerves. Not only was she inadvertently meeting her girlfriend's parents, but she was also trying to make sure her girlfriend didn't get grounded for all eternity. No pressure or anything.

She walked up to the duo trying her best not to be intimidated. 'Wow, Morgan's mom is gorgeous,' she thought to herself as she was standing in front of her, stunned silent.

"Uhh… hi… Can we help you?" Kate asked the girl standing in front of her and her husband.

"Yeah! Sorry to bother you, but are you Richard Castle?"

"Why, yes I am," Rick replied cheekily as Kate rolled her eyes.

"Oh my gosh! I am a huge fan," Ashlyn saw Morgan make her move out of the corner of her eye, "Can you sign something for me?"

"Yeah…" Rick replied and looked down at her empty hands, "Do you uh, have anything for me to sign?"

By this time Morgan had made her way out of the coffee shop undetected and Ashlyn was just ready to get out of this situation.

"Oh gee, it looks like I totally forgot my books and paper in my room. I'm sorry to waste your time! I'll see you later." She ranted off quickly before she hastily made her exit.

"Okay… That was weird," Rick said once the girl had left.

"Actually, I feel like that was typical for your fans," Kate laughed.

Outside, Ashlyn walked until she found Morgan leaning up against the brick wall of the building around the corner.

"Oh my God! You did it!" Morgan screeched as she jumped into her girlfriend's arms, clinging tightly to her neck.

Ashlyn laughed and set Morgan back down on the ground, "That was sufficiently awkward."

"Let's go to your dorm before they walk back out!"

The couple made their way to campus hand in hand and went straight to Ashlyn's empty dorm. They were usually lucky in the sense that Ashlyn's roommate was hardly ever in their room. She had a boyfriend on campus and was usually over at his place.

They laid down on Ashlyn's small twin size bed and cuddled together with Ashlyn's arm around Morgan and Morgan's head on Ashlyn's chest. They both started thinking about how lucky they were that they didn't get caught.

"I still can't believe we pulled that off," Morgan said.

"Honestly, I can't either," Ashlyn replied before leaning over and kissing Morgan.

The kiss quickly turned heated as Ashlyn ran her tongue along Morgan's bottom lip to get her to open her mouth, which she did willingly. Morgan ran her hand through Ashlyn's long hair while pulling her on top of her and deepening the kiss even more.

Before Ashlyn knew it, she was on top of her girlfriend and kissing along her jawline towards her neck. Ashlyn loved how much Morgan loved it when she kissed her neck. It made it hard for Ashlyn to remember not to push her too far with the noises she was making. Ashlyn got so wrapped up in the sounds coming out of her girlfriend's mouth that she didn't realize she might've spent too much time in one spot. She began kissing back along Morgan's jawline to find her lips again and dove right back into the kiss. Hands roamed throughout the kiss, never staying in one spot for too long.

They were both so caught up in the make out session that neither registered the alarm they had set on Ashlyn's phone so Morgan could get back to school on time.

Ashlyn finally heard the annoying sound going off and pulled away from Morgan.

"Shit babe!" Ashlyn exclaimed looking at her phone and realizing they had left the alarm for 5 minutes, "You gotta get back!"

Morgan turned her head to nuzzle into her girlfriend's neck, trying to forget that she had to leave.

"Come on, love," Ashlyn prompted, "Up, up, up!"

Morgan slowly rolled over Ashlyn to get to the outside of the bed and got up off the bed before putting her shoes back on and grabbing her stuff.

"I'll text you later, k?" Morgan said as she leaned down to peck Ashlyn's lips.

Ashlyn quickly reached out before Morgan had a chance to turn around, "Hey, don't be nervous about tonight. Your parents love you and they're gonna support you, no matter what," Ashlyn reassured her.

"I know I'm just nervous about actually telling them. And of course how much trouble I'm going to be in!" Morgan laughed nervously.

"Text me after and let me know how it goes. Or call me. Or come over. Or whatever," Ashlyn finished with a smile.

"I will, babe," Morgan said as she snuck a final kiss and left the dorm room.

The rest of the day flew by for Morgan, a little too fast if she was being honest. Luckily she had made it back just in time for 4th period. Usually she would head to the gym after school, but knowing she was grounded she started heading out of the school for the walk home.

"Hey! Morgan!" Alexis yelled down the hall trying to get her sister's attention.

Morgan heard her name being called and looked around before spotting her older sister weaving in and out of people trying to catch up with her.

"Hey Lex," Morgan greeted as Alexis made her way up to her, "How was your day?"

Alexis took in her sister's appearance and spotted the hickey on her neck, "Apparently not as good as yours," she smirked.

Morgan had a confused look on her face, wondering if somehow Alexis knew she was sneaking out to go see her girlfriend. She was almost stunned silent before she got out, "Huh?"

"You do realize you have one of the biggest hickey's I've ever seen on your neck right now, right?"

"What?" Morgan screamed horrified before digging out her phone to use as a mirror, "Holy shit…" she whispered to herself.

"When did you even have time to get that? Wait, no, better yet, who gave it to you?" Alexis asked curiously.

"Uhm… It's not important…" Morgan said as she began the walk home, trying to get Alexis to let it go.

"Not important? My little sister has a boyfriend and it's not important?!"

"I don't have a boyfriend, Lex…"

"OK, so you aren't dating him but you're letting him suck on your neck like a leech?"

"Ew. That's not a good analogy, Lex. But could you just let it go for now? Please. I promise I'll tell you soon." Morgan pleaded with her sister.

"Okay. But don't expect me to wait a long time!" Alexis said trying to lighten the mood, although she was now even more suspicious because usually her and Morgan told each other everything.

The rest of their walk was silent and by the time they got home everybody else was already home.

Morgan barely said 'Hey' before rushing up to her room to try to find the best way to conceal her hickey.

She snapped a quick picture of it and sent it to Ashlyn with a text that said: _Maybe next time a little less leech-esque_

She found a collared flannel shirt, probably one she stole from Ashlyn's closet, that she hoped would conceal the hickey enough with the help of some makeup to make it through dinner without her parents noticing.

Her phone beeped alerting her of a new text: _Sorry babe, I couldn't help it with the noises you were making_

She typed out her reply: _Ugh, you can't do this to me before I have to go talk to my parents_

_Sorry love, go forth and conquer! Text me after!_

Morgan put her phone in her pocket and made her way back to the top of the stairs and noticed that all of her siblings had already left to head to Gram's apartment, which luckily was only a couple floors down.

"Here goes nothing…" She mumbled under her breath as she descended the stairs.

* * *

Next chapter: Morgan tells Kate and Rick, how will it go?


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the delay. I'm getting ready to graduate on Saturday and just finished all of my finals. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Look who decided to grace us with her presence," Rick teased from the kitchen putting the finishing touches on their dinner.

Morgan rolled her eyes back teasingly at him. Rick muttered something about 'Being too much like Kate' and something else that Morgan couldn't quite hear.

"Where's mom?" She asked, trying to speed this process along.

"She just went to the bathroom, I'm sure she'll be back any minute. Are you sure you're ok, kid?" Rick asked seeing the look in Morgan's eyes.

"Yeah, just ready to get this over with," she replied as Kate walked out of the bedroom.

"Hey sweetie," Kate greeted her with a hug and a kiss on top of her head.

"Hey mom. You guys ready?"

"Yeah…" Kate replied nervously.

The family sat around the table with Morgan on one side and Kate and Rick on the other.

Morgan was wringing her hands trying to figure out how to start.

"Honey, you're really starting to worry me…" Kate started.

"Okay, here goes..." Morgan started looking down at the table, "I haven't been completely honest with you guys…"

"Okay…" Rick prompted her to keep going.

"See, I've kinda been seeing somebody.."

"Yeah, I kinda gathered that from the hickey you're horribly trying to cover up," Kate chuckled wondering why her daughter was so nervous to tell them that.

Morgan's hand instinctively flew up to her neck where the hickey was, her whole face turned red immediately.

"So… who is he?" Kate asked, curious as to why Morgan was so nervous about this.

When Morgan hesitated, trying to figure out how to proceed, Rick shouted, "Are you pregnant?!"

"WHAT?" Kate and Morgan both yelled at the same time with horrified expressions on their faces.

"What?" Rick asked confused, "She's acting like she's hiding something bigger than a boyfriend. Sorry, that's instinctively where my mind went!"

"No, I'm not pregnant, Rick! Trust me." Morgan reassured him.

"But you are using condoms, right?" Kate asked.

"Mom!"

"Don't 'Mom' me! We are only looking out for you. That's why we gave you that box of condoms, Morgan, I'm too young to be a grandma."

"You don't have to worry, mom!" Morgan said, wishing the ground would swallow her up.

"So you still have that box? Or do you need more?"

Morgan hesitated again, wondering when and how she was actually going to get this out, and how many more conclusions her parents were going to jump to before she got this out.

"Morgan, quit acting like you've killed somebody. Whatever it is, you'll be fine," Kate reassured her.

"I know. This is just hard to get out, and so so awkward."

"If you're embarrassed about sex, maybe you shouldn't be having it," Kate commented dryly.

"When did we assume that I'm having sex? Cause I'm not!"

"Ok then, what has got you so twisted in knots?" Kate asked wanting her daughter to just spit it out already.

"You aren't dating that Jacobs kid are you? I never liked that kid. He's always been such a prick!" Rick commented as he was silently going through all of the kids at their school that he didn't like, or the parents that he didn't like for that matter.

"NO! I'm not dating Steve, he's a douche. " Morgan said starting to get aggravated.

"Language, please. Just spit it out, Morgan, whoever he is, I'm sure he's a nice guy…"

"It's not a he…" Morgan mumbled under her breath as she looked down at the table.

"What was that?" Rick asked not having heard a word she said. Although, Kate clearly had by the wide-eyed, open mouth look she sported. Rick was now thoroughly confused.

"It's not a he," She repeated a little clearer this time.

She looked up at her parents who both had the same look on their faces and she freaked out, "Oh my God! I shouldn't have said anything! Just forget I said anything." She finished as she started to get up from the table.

Kate quickly schooled her features and stood up to walk over to her daughter, who she pulled into a tight hug before she could reach the stairs. Before the two knew it they were being engulfed by two larger arms. Both Kate and Morgan had silent tears sliding down their cheeks.

When Rick and Kate pulled away, Kate grabbed Morgan's face in her hands and wiped her tears away with her thumbs before softly saying, "Hey, you know we love you more than anything in the world. Nothing could ever change that."

Morgan nodded her head silently as Kate gave her a kiss on the side of her head and pulled her in for another hug.

"Now, why don't we sit back down and talk some more?" Kate asked, Morgan nodded again and the family sat back around the table.

Morgan sat silently, again, trying to figure out how to tell them the rest of the story, which she knew was the part they would be upset about.

"Alright, so I'm getting that wasn't the end of this little story time?" Kate started.

"You should be a detective," Morgan replied with a smirk.

"There's my girl," Rick commented with a laugh.

"Out with it, kid. Who is she?" Kate went into detective mode for a minute.

"Her name is Ashlyn."

Both Kate and Rick sat silently for a second before Rick said, "I can't think of any Ashlyn's at your school. What grade is she in?"

"Uh, well, that's cause she doesn't go to my school…"

"Alright, what school does she go to?" Kate interjected.

"Uh… NYU.." Morgan told them nervously.

"A college girl, eh?" Rick asked smirking.

"Rick, please," Kate chastised, "How old is this girl, Morgan?"

"She's only 19!" Morgan started getting defensive.

"Hey, there's no need to yell at us or get defensive. We're just trying to get all the facts here," Kate told her softly, "Where did you and Ashlyn meet? And how long have you two been seeing each other?"

"We met at the coffee shop across from school," Morgan answered the first questions, trying to evade the last one.

"Alright, and I'll ask you again, how long have you two been together?" Kate asked starting to get suspicious.

"3 months," Morgan mumbled.

"3 months?!" Kate shrieked before she felt Rick put his hand on her leg to calm her down, "3 months?" she asked again more calmly.

"Yeah… I wanted to tell you guys sooner, but I didn't know how to and then it just kept getting longer and longer and I kept digging this hole bigger," Morgan explained.

"Ok, well before you two go out again, Rick and I need to meet her," Kate told her trying to remain calm throughout the whole thing.

"Of course!" Morgan replied enthusiastically.

"I'm a little confused," Rick began, "When in the last 3 months have you had time to go out with her?"

"I thought mom was supposed to be the detective," Morgan grunted, knowing this was the part that would piss her mom off the most.

"Answer the question, Morgan," Kate ordered.

"Ok, well you know how I have weight training third period with Coach Chandler?" Morgan began and her parents nodded, "Well I kinda convinced Coach to let me go off school grounds as long as I get a lift and a run in outside of school…"

"Are you kidding me?" Kate declared.

"Kate, just calm down," Rick tried to interject before Kate said something she would regret in anger.

"Calm down? Rick, our daughter has been going off to God-knows-where with some girl we haven't met, during school hours!"

"It's not like we go and do something illegal!" Morgan retorted.

"That's not the point, Morgan. The point is that you've been skipping school, essentially, to go hang out with this girl, we don't even know. For all you know she could've been a killer!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot everyone is a murderer in your eyes," Morgan commented, "I'm not stupid mom! We stayed at the coffee shop everyday the first couple weeks we met up. I got to know her extensively before I went anywhere with her!"

"Ok, and now where do you go?" Kate barked.

"Like, to campus and stuff…" Morgan mumbled.

"Where on campus, Morgan? Cause I have a funny feeling that you guys aren't going and sitting in the quad for an hour," Kate replied.

"Fine. We go to her dorm…"

"Morgan…" Rick chastised with a look on his face that Morgan decided was somewhere between being upset with her and scared for her.

"So, let me get this straight," Kate started as she stood up and began pacing, "You meet this girl, while skipping class, get to know her for what maybe 3 weeks? Then, you decide that you think it's perfectly safe to go back to her dorm with her and do God-knows-what until you decide you should proceed back to school so that you don't get caught?"

"Yeah… That's pretty much it…" Morgan answered, "But we haven't even had sex yet! And we aren't going back to her dorm and drinking and getting high or anything. It's just an easier place to talk."

"You aren't getting the point in this whole thing, hun." Rick told her, "Ashlyn could be the nicest girl we've ever met, but how did you know that something bad wasn't going to happen? And worse, we wouldn't even know where you were if something bad were to happen. We might be detectives-" Kate cut him off with a cough, "-Ok, your mom might be a detective, and I'm a detective helper, but that doesn't mean we would've been able to find out where you were."

"I'm sorry," Morgan said lightly, "I get it."

Kate seemed to calm down a little as she started to process all the information her daughter had told her. She knew her daughter was smart and all of their kids knew what to do in an emergency, but she couldn't wrap her mind around how Morgan thought all of this was ok.

"Ok," Kate started, sitting back down at the table, "1. You're grounded for another 2 weeks, don't even try to argue, you're lucky it's only 2 weeks. 2. You will not skip school ever again. 3. We have to meet Ashlyn if you ever plan on seeing her again, and 4. You are going to write me a 1,000 word essay on all the reasons you shouldn't skip school to meet up with someone you barely know."

"Fair enough," Morgan conceded, "When do you wanna meet her? Cause I'd rather not do it with the whole crew here… So if we can send them to Gram's or Gramp's for a night again that would be great!"

"Alright then, call her and tell her to come over now. Your siblings won't be back until later, it will give us plenty of time to meet her," Kate told her.

"Tonight? Are you sure that's a good idea? Maybe you should take some time and cool off a little…" Rick tried to interject.

"Yeah, mom. I don't need you upset with her before you even meet her."

"Oh, I'm not upset with her. I'm upset with you. But I am going to have a glass of wine and a quick bath to calm down, and you are going to call Ashlyn and tell her to be here in 30 minutes," Kate explained, "I promise I will be fine when I get out."

"Alright, if you're sure…" Morgan said as she pulled out her phone and dialed Ashlyn's number.

She started to walk away as the phone was ringing to get some privacy, but her mom caught her by the shirt and pulled her back.

Ashlyn answered, "Hey babe! Are you ok?"

"Yeah… So I told them…" Morgan started as she looked up at her parents watching her intently.

"Okay… And how'd it go?"

"Uhh about as good as was expected… And uh they want you to come over… Now…"

"Now?!" Ashlyn exclaimed, "Morgan, I'm not even dressed! I just got out of the shower!"

"Oh really?" Morgan smirked forgetting that her parents were standing right in front of her and she probably shouldn't be picturing her girlfriend naked at the moment. Kate cleared her throat, "Oh yeah," Morgan stammered, "So, yeah. Now. I'll see you in 20 minutes. K. Bye." She ended the call abruptly.

"So, she'll be here soon, I'm gonna go upstairs for a couple minutes…" Morgan said as she turned to walk towards the stairs.

"Hey, Rick," Kate started, effectively getting her husband and daughter's attention, "Don't you find it odd that Morgan didn't have to give Ashlyn our address?"

"Ah, shit," Morgan said, knowing exactly what her mom was getting at.

"Oh-ho," Rick started, finally catching on, "I guess that is pretty convenient."

"So, you want tell us when you brought her to our home?"

"It was just last week. I realized I forgot my history book here, so we walked here to get it instead of going to her dorm," Morgan told them solemnly.

"What am I gonna do with you, kid?" Kate asked before pulling her daughter into another hug.

"I love you, mom. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner."

"I know you are, sweetie. I love you too, but after tonight we're gonna set some ground rules for this relationship."

"Alright. I promise you guys are gonna love her!" Morgan exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she spoke about her girlfriend, both of her parents noticed this.

"I'm sure we will," Kate replied, "Now I'm gonna go take a quick bath. Rick, bring me a glass of wine," she ordered her husband as she walked away.

"So demanding," Rick joked to Morgan before pulling her into a hug as well.

"I love you, too, Rick. I'm really glad mom found you."

"Me too, kiddo, me too. Now go get ready for your girlfriend to meet the parents while I take the queen her drink," He smirked.


	4. Chapter 4

Morgan quickly made her way up the stairs and into her room where she flopped down on her bed and thought back on the last half hour.

She pulled out her phone and typed a quick text to Ashlyn, _Sorry for the ambush, babe! They were hovering when I called I_ can't_ wait for you to meet them! See you soon_

It was only a few seconds later that she felt her phone vibrate, she pulled her phone out and read the text, _I figured as much lol. I'm about to leave my dorm so I'll be there in 15. I can't wait to see you, and meet them too (:_

Morgan smiled to herself wondering how she got so lucky with her life. She laid there in silence until she heard a knock on the front door, which made her bolt out of bed and down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs she saw her mom and Rick exiting their room, so she jumped the last couple steps, landing perfectly and ran to the door before either of them could get there.

"I got it," she told them on her way to the door and she shot her mom a look that said 'give me a minute' before she opened the door and slipped out into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

"Hey babe!" Morgan greeted her girlfriend excitedly before leaning in for a kiss.

Ashlyn pulled back from the kiss after a couple seconds, "Hey you, not that I don't enjoy this, because I do, but wasn't the whole point of me coming over to meet your parents? Not stand out in the hall and make out with you?" Ashlyn joked.

"Yes it was" they heard come through the door, signifying that her parents were listening on the other side.

"Yeah," Morgan replied, rolling her eyes at her parents on the other side of the door, "But I just didn't want them to ambush you at the door. You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she laughed and grabbed Morgan's hand as Morgan reached to open the door.

Kate and Rick stood back and watched the door open slowly. The sight Kate saw once the door was open made her smile. She took in the girl standing lovingly next to her daughter; slightly taller than Morgan, lean, wearing a button up flannel shirt, dark wash jeans, and converse that looked like they had seen better days, with sandy blonde hair falling down in waves and not a hint of makeup on her face.

Kate decided she looked like someone she had seen before but couldn't put her finger on it.

"Mom, Rick," Morgan began introducing her girlfriend to her parents awkwardly, "This is Ashlyn."

Rick was the first of the two to step forward and shake Ashlyn's hand with a smile and Kate followed right after him.

"Pleasure to meet you. So, I take it you aren't really a fan?" Rick asked, which made Ashlyn turn bright red and shy away while Kate and Morgan looked on with confusion.

"Uh, Mr. Castle…" Ashlyn began, having forgotten all about how awkward this was bound to be after her run in with the two earlier that day at the coffee shop, "No… I mean yes, I am. I uh have actually read some of your books before, Nikki Heat is my favorite, you can ask Morgan!" She defended herself while also trying to get on his good side.

Rick's face turned from fake scorn to amused in a matter of seconds, "I'm just messing with you," he laughed.

By now, Morgan could deduce what all of this was about and they all held their breath waiting for what Kate's reaction would be; Morgan decided her mom would either be really amused with the situation or really pissed off. She was silently praying for the former rather than the latter.

When it finally clicked with Kate where she had seen Ashlyn before, she said, "You're the girl from the coffee shop!"

"Uh… Yeah- yes ma'am," Ashlyn replied scared.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it wasn't a coincidence that you ran into us then?"

Ashlyn looked to Morgan for how to respond before Morgan jumped in and answered for her, "No, mom, it wasn't. She was trying to distract you guys so I could get out undetected."

"That actually explains a lot," Kate smirked while looking towards Castle, who shrugged noncommittally.

"Wellll, what do you say we move this party to the living room, shall we?" Rick exclaimed when he couldn't take any more of the awkward silence that had filled the room.

The group made their way to the living room with Morgan and Ashlyn sitting close together on the love seat and Rick and Kate on the couch next to them.

"So, I think before we get into the nitty gritty stuff, Rick and I would like to know more about you," Kate said towards Ashlyn.

"Of course, what would you like to know?"

"Well, seeing as how Morgan has clearly not told us much, anything you think we should know."

"Alright," Ashlyn began and took a deep breath before continuing, "My name is Ashlyn King. I'm uh, 19. I was born and raised in a small town in Alaska, which is where all of my family lives. I chose to come to NYU for their developmental genetics program. I have never gone to jail, never even had a speeding ticket for that matter. I uh, like sports and books. And uh, I don't really know what else," she finished with a timid smile.

"Where in Alaska?" Rick asked, intrigued.

"Petersburg. It's a small island in southeast. Running population of a grand total of 3,000 people. Pretty much all who are related," she said with a laugh, "My dad is actually a commercial fisherman and my mom works at the doctor's office in town."

"That's so cool! I've always wanted to go to Alaska!" Rick exclaimed excitedly. He was already thinking of ways to get Kate to agree to take a vacation there.

"It's really nothing special. Lots of rain."

"So how do you like New York?" Kate asked very interested in the girl sitting in front of her next to her daughter, and also trying to corral the conversation back towards a more serious tone.

Ashlyn looked at Morgan before answering Kate, "I love it. Think it was probably one of the best decisions I've ever made." As she finished she felt Morgan slip her hand into hers. Ashlyn visibly relaxed when she felt Morgan's small hand in hers.

Kate looked at the two girls in awe, she had never seen her daughter look so happy and content. Sure with Todd, Morgan had been happy, but never this happy. It was written all over her face.

"I uh want you guys to know that I realize this must look bad. A college girl dating someone in high school, but from the moment I met Morgan in the coffee shop I knew how remarkable your daughter is, and I couldn't let her slip through my fingers. And I don't want you guys to worry; I will never do anything to put her in any danger. Whatever you guys decide I will respect your boundaries and rules. I've never really had a relationship where I had to meet the parents' cause the girls I dated up home; I already knew all of their parents. I mean, not all! It wasn't a lot, only like two. Oh gosh, I'm rambling, I tend to do this when I'm nervous. Uh, I guess to sum everything up-" Ashlyn turned and looked into Morgan's eyes, "-I uh, I'm completely head over heels in love with your daughter and I will do everything in my power to make sure she is safe."

As soon as Ashlyn finished her sentence, she saw Morgan's smile grow larger than she's ever seen it and Morgan pulled her into a searing kiss, which Ashlyn fully reciprocated after a brief moment of shock.

Kate and Rick looked on in mild shock before snapping out of it. Kate quickly cleared her throat to remind the two that her and Rick were still in the room.

The couple broke apart quickly and shyly looked up at Kate and Rick who both let out a small chuckle at their facial expressions.

"So, there's that. Well, I guess it's time to set- and reiterate- some ground rules," Kate said with a pointed glare at Morgan, "Obviously you will not be skipping school ever again, if I ever have to listen to Principal Lewis talk to me about my daughter's wasted potential and how she should put as much time in the classroom as she does on the basketball court again I will wring your neck," she stated and got a firm nod from Morgan with also a hint of a cringe, "Same rules still apply for here. No closed door upstairs, curfew is 9 on school nights and 12 on weekends as long as we know where you are. I think Rick and I would agree that we would rather the two of you spend your time here rather than in your dorm, Ashlyn," three heads nodded in agreement, "Rick, do you have anything you want to add?"

"Nope, I think you covered it, babe," Rick patted his wife on her thigh.

"Perfect. Now Morgan, you know you're grounded for three weeks, but as long as you guys don't abuse the privilege, I think it would be okay for Ashlyn to come over and keep you company," Kate smiled at the two girls as Morgan jumped off the couch and into her mom's lap, pulling her into a hug, "Ugh. You're getting too big for this," Kate told her daughter. Rick and Ashlyn looked on in laughter at the two.

"Alright, alright, get off me!" Kate laughed and pushed her daughter onto the floor.

"I don't know about you three, but I could go for some ice cream!" Rick exclaimed.

"When can you not go for ice cream? I swear if I allowed it, you would have ice cream for every meal," Kate teased him.

"Fine, just for that you don't get any!" Rick teased and stuck out his tongue at her.

"What did I tell you about keeping that damn tongue in your mouth?" Kate asked him suddenly serious.

"You weren't complaining last nig-" Rick was suddenly cut off by Kate's hand slapping over his mouth.

"Rick!" Morgan screeched, mortified, while Ashlyn laughed under her breath.

"OK, we're going to get ice cream," Kate said, trying to change the topic of conversation quickly. Her hand moved to Rick's ear to tug it, telling him he was definitely in trouble for that comment, "Ashlyn, do you want some?"

"Uh, sure, I never turn down ice cream."

"You'll fit in just fine around here then," Kate said with a large smile before turning back to her husband and dragging him to the kitchen by his ear with him yelling "apples!" the whole way there.

"So… that's my parents…" Morgan said looking at Ashlyn embarrassed by her parents.

"They're pretty awesome, babe. Just like you," Ashlyn smiled back at her.

"Look, uh, about what I said. I want you to know I meant every word and you don't have to say it back 'til you're ready. I don't want you to feel pressured into any-" Ashlyn's second ramble of the night was cut off when Morgan's lips met hers.

"I love you, too," Morgan said against her lips before diving right back into the kiss, which continued on until her parents walked back into the room.

"Alright, ladies," Rick announced as they came back into the living room, and Morgan and Ashlyn broke apart, "Come up for oxygen for a bit, eh?" Rick joked.

"Yeah, because we've never walked in on you and mom kissing," Morgan teased back.

"Touchè, Little B," Rick said as he handed the two their bowls of ice cream.

"Thank you, Mr. Castle," Ashlyn said as she grabbed the bowl out of his hands.

"Oh, please, call me Rick. Don't make me feel older than I already am."

"Yeah, heaven forbid you ever actually act your age," Kate commented as she walked back into the room.

Ashlyn nodded and laughed as she dug into her ice cream. The four sat in the living room talking about anything and everything. Rick asked a lot of questions about Ashlyn's hometown and what Alaska was like and decided that a trip to Alaska was in order for his family, to which Kate tried to talk him out of.

"Alright, Ashlyn," Rick began, "The biggest question of the night: What is your favorite MLB team?"

"No!" Morgan exclaimed with dramatics, "We almost made it through the night without that question coming up!"

"Well since Alaska doesn't have an MLB team, or any major league teams for that matter, we have to work with what's closest. So I grew up a Mariner's fan," Ashlyn explained, remembering back when her and Morgan had this talk and Morgan told her how much her family loved the Yankees, "Please don't make me stop dating your daughter," she rushed out at the end.

"I guess it could be worse," Kate admitted, "You could be a Red Sox fan, then we'd really have to keep you away from our daughter," she laughed.

The rest of the group laughed along with her and talked some more. Rick and Kate thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Ashlyn and both could tell that she was the perfect girl for their daughter.

They were all so engrossed in discussing Kate and Rick's backstory and the Nikki Heat books that nobody registered the time or the front door opening. It wasn't until Morgan, who was leaning into Ashlyn with their hands clasped together in her lap, heard her younger sister's voice.

"Mama!" Kelly yelled as she came running into the living room on her short wobbly legs.

"Hey baby," Kate reached down and grabbed Kelly to give her a kiss and sat her on her lap, shooting a look over to Morgan, who looked shocked, scared, and overwhelmed all at the same time.

* * *

So now that Ashlyn has met the parents, the siblings are next. How will that go? Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Morgan didn't have time to figure out a plan, so she figured now was as good a time as ever to tell her siblings. Definitely not the way she planned for them to find out, but she had to work with what was dealt to her.

Ryan and Alexis followed their littlest sister into the living room and sat down on the opposite couch of Morgan and Ashlyn talking about what they did over at Gram's, not registering the extra person in the room.

"Uh, hey guys," Morgan greeted her siblings and the two both finally looked up at her and Ashlyn.

"Hey, sis," Ryan replied and then looked back to his parents before doing a double take back to Morgan and Ashlyn, "Who are you?" he asked Ashlyn.

"Ryan!" Kate scolded her son, "We've taught you better manners than that. Try again."

"I'm sorry," Ryan said to Ashlyn, turning up the charm, "I'm Ryan, and you are?"

Ashlyn looked to Morgan to figure out how she wanted to play this before turning back to Ryan, "Uh, I'm Ashlyn-"

"Uh guys- Ryan, Lex, and uh, you too Kel, not that you'll really know what's going on," Morgan started and cut off Ashlyn, "This is Ashlyn, she's my girlfriend…" Morgan finished sliding her hand back into Ashlyn's where it had been before her siblings got home. She looked up to find Alexis and Ryan slack jawed.

"Pwetty," Kelly broke the silence.

"Yeah, Kel. She's pretty, huh?" Morgan smiled while Ashlyn blushed at all the attention.

"Girlfriend?" Ryan asked, clearly shocked by the revelation.

"Yeah, nerd. I thought you were old enough to distinguish between male and female by now," Morgan teased her brother trying to lighten the mood.

"Very funny, sis, I'm just surprised is all."

"I think that's the general feeling circulating the loft on this wonderful night," Morgan laughed, "Pretty sure the only one not surprised by this is Kelly, and that's just cause she has no clue what the hell is going on."

"Language, Morgan," Kate told her.

Alexis smiled and stood up to shake Ashlyn's hand, who also stood up to greet her, "I'm Alexis."

"It's nice to meet you. Morgan's told me a lot about you," Ashlyn replied as she shook her hand.

"Oh really?" Alexis asked as she smiled at Morgan, "Like what exactly?"

"Oh! Nothing bad, of course. Mostly just how you're thinking of going to NYU next year. So well, if you ever need any help, or a tour, or which professors to stay away from, I can try and help!"

"Wait! You go to NYU?" Ryan interrupted.

"Oh, right, I guess I forgot to mention that part," Morgan said to her brother and sister.

Ryan smirked, "And you made fun of me for going after older girls."

"Oh shut it, nude boy."

Kate and Rick both breathed a sigh of relief seeing the siblings go back to normal.

"Should I even ask the story behind the nickname?" Ashlyn asked.

"No!" Ryan answered/shouted while looking around at his family pleading them not to say anything.

The whole family laughed and Morgan patted the inside of Ashlyn's thigh, "I'll tell you later," she finished with a wink.

"Morgannnnn," Ryan whined, "How am I supposed to go on double dates with you guys and her hot college friends if you tell her that story?"

"Nice try, kid," Kate told him, "That is so not happening."

Everyone laughed again at Ryan's expense.

Kate took a look at her watch at saw that it was already 8:45, "Alright, we're gonna take little miss here up to get ready for bed," she told the kids as her, Rick, and Kelly got up off the couch, "20 minutes, Morgan."

"But mom! It's not even 9!"

"20 minutes. Or would you rather it be 10?"

"Fine," Morgan acquiesced.

Kate and Rick walked over to Ashlyn, who again stood up from the couch.

Rick stuck out his hand first, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ashlyn."

"It was great to meet you too Mr. Castle," Ashlyn replied as she shook his hand.

Kate stepped up next with Kelly still in her arms, "It was nice to meet you, Ashlyn," Kate said and pulled the girl into a side hug awkwardly, "Don't break her heart," she whispered in her ear.

They both pulled back, "I will do everything in my power not to, ma'am."

"Good," Kate smirked, "Cause I'm a detective, I know a lot of people who can help me hide a dead body."

"Mom!" Morgan jumped up off the couch as Ashlyn visibly gulped.

"I'm just sayin'" Kate laughed as she and Rick headed upstairs with Kelly.

Alexis and Ryan took their seats on the couch to talk to Ashlyn and Morgan some more. Once her parents had left the couple sat back down on the love seat with Ashlyn putting her hand on Morgan's leg lovingly and Morgan leaning into her with her head on Ashlyn's shoulder.

Alexis and Ryan looked on in wonder. They had never seen their sister this affectionate before, even with Todd she always kept a small distance between them, so all of this was new to them.

Alexis was the one who started the conversation, "So I'm sure you guys have already had to tell dad and Kate the whole story, but I want to hear it too," she laughed.

Morgan dove right in and told her siblings the whole story, with Ashlyn interjecting when she felt the need. When they got to the part at the coffee shop that day Alexis cut in, "Ah, so that's where you got the hickey from, then?"

"Ah, yeah. That was my bad," Ashlyn replied embarrassingly.

Ryan and Alexis laughed and then listened to the rest of the story, which was finished just in time as Kate yelled down the stairs, "5 minutes, Morgan!"

Morgan rolled her eyes are her mom and then shouted back, "So glad I have you to help me tell time, I don't know what I'd do without you!"

"Don't push your luck, kid," Kate told her from the top of the stairs with a freshly bathed Kelly in her arms. She carefully made her way down the stairs, "Someone was quite taken with you, Ashlyn. Wouldn't go to sleep until you said goodnight," Kate smiled.

Kelly and Kate were now standing in front of Morgan and Ashlyn. Kelly hid her head in her mother's neck with her thumb in her mouth as her mom tried to get her to say goodnight. Kelly tried to burrow deeper into her mother, but Morgan reached out and grabbed her out of Kate's arms.

Kelly quickly latched onto Morgan's neck, "Kelly, this is Ashlyn," Morgan tried to introduce her properly, "Can you say hi?"

Kelly slowly brought her head out of her sister's neck and pulled her thumb out of her mouth, "Hi Ashwyn," she said softly.

Ashlyn's smile grew increasingly at the cute girl in front of her, "Hi, Kelly! How old are you?" she asked trying to get the small girl to open up, even though she already knew the answer.

"I'm dis many," Kelly said, holding up two fingers, "But I almost fwee!"

"Three?" Ashlyn responded enthusiastically, "You're so big!" she hadn't been around many kids before so she didn't know what to do next, so she looked up to Morgan for help.

"Are you gonna say goodnight, monkey?" Morgan prompted the little girl.

"Goodnight Ashwyn!"

"Goodnight Kelly," Ashlyn replied as Kate grabbed Kelly out of Morgan's arms to go back upstairs.

"Goodnight, Ashlyn," Kate said over her shoulder at the two, smiling.

"Okay, mom. We got it!" Morgan said back with a smirk.

Morgan walked Ashlyn towards the door, "Babe, how are you getting back to campus?"

"Well, I thought about teleporting there, but figured that would take too much effort," Ashlyn replied sarcastically, "I'm getting back the same way I got here, on my feet."

"Like hell you are. It's dark and cold out."

"It's only 15 minutes, babe. I'll be fine."

"No. I'm calling the car service," Morgan told her as she pulled out her phone and found the number for the car service that they use.

"No! Seriously, babe! That's too much!"

"Too late, I'm already calling," Morgan said as she put the phone up to her ear and talked to guy who answered, giving him all their information. She hung up the phone and looked back at Ashlyn, "It'll be here in 10 minutes. We can wait out in the hall until then," Morgan pulled her out the door.

"Won't your parents be mad?"

"About you using the car service? God no! We hardly use it anyway and Rick pays for it so might as well get something out of it."

"If you say so…"

"I do," Morgan smiled and leaned in to kiss Ashlyn.

Morgan would lay awake at night and try to think of a way to describe Ashlyn's kisses, and the only thing she could ever come up with was intoxicating. She could get lost in Ashlyn's kisses the moment their lips met, which is exactly what happened with this one.

Before Morgan knew what was happening, Ashlyn had her pinned against the wall next to the front door. Tongues and teeth clashed and hands roamed freely, trying to find something to cling to.

The two were so engrossed with each other that they didn't realize their 10 minutes were up, nor did they recognize the soft click of the front door being opened.

"Hah-hemm," Kate cleared her throat loudly, startling the two girls apart.

"Holy shit," Morgan exclaimed as they broke apart out of breath. Ashlyn was quick to wipe her mouth and then stare at her feet.

"Watch your language," Kate chided her as if it was a reflex, which, let's be honest, with how much Morgan tended to cuss it kind of was.

"Sorry, mom, you just scared me," Morgan told her shyly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kate said sarcastically, "Did I interrupt your make out session?"

"Uh, yeah, kinda," Morgan smirked and got a signature glare back from her mom, "We're just waiting for the car to get here to take Ashlyn back to campus. Me, being the caring, loving, girlfriend that I am, forced her into waiting for the car."

"What time did you call? They usually don't take too long to get here."

Morgan pulled out her phone to check the time, "Oh, look at that. It's been 10 minutes already?" Morgan smirked and turned to Ashlyn, "I'll walk you down."

"Down and right back," Kate called out to her daughter as the two walks to the elevator.

"Got it, ma!"

"Bye Ashlyn!" She waved and yelled again.

"Bye, Mrs. Castle," Ashlyn called back.

Kate watched the two step into the elevator and then turned to head back inside the loft. She made her way up the stairs to see how Rick was doing putting Kelly to sleep and to also check in on the other two kids.

Kate peeked her head into Kelly's room to see Rick sitting on the bed reading a story to an almost asleep Kelly. She quietly shut the door and moved to the next room, Ryan's.

She knocked lightly, remembering what had happened with him and Rick last night, and really not wanting to witness that.

"Come in," came from behind the door.

"Hey, bud. You ready for bed?"

"Yeah, I'm just finishing up some homework, I didn't really get a chance to do it at Gram's."

"Understandable," Kate laughed knowingly and walked over to sit on Ryan's bed, "You have anything you wanna say about tonight?"

"Like what?" Ryan asked slightly confused.

"Oh, I don't know, your sister's new girlfriend," Kate told him.

"What's there to say? It looks like Morgan's pretty smitten with her, and she's pretty cool. And hot!" Ryan laughed.

"Gross, kid," Kate laughed and lightly hit him on the head, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of her around here. You ok with that?"

"Yeah! She told me that she could beat me at Call of Duty, but I don't believe her. I'm pretty spectacular at that game, just ask Rick!" Ryan joked.

Kate laughed at her son, "Alright, kiddo. I just wanted to hear your thoughts. Don't be afraid to talk to us about anything, okay?" She told him as she got off the bed and leaned down to give him a kiss on his head, "Lights out at 10:30 bud."

"Okay mom, love you!"

"Love you too, Ry." She told him with a big smile on her face.

Kate exited the room with a smile on her face and moved on to the next kid. She figured it was safe to open Alexis's door without knocking and found the girl sitting in bed reading a book.

"Hey Lex," Kate walked over and sat down on her bed next to her hip.

"Hey, Kate," Alexis said as she looked up from her book. Noticing the slight nervous expression on her step-mom's face, she quickly marked her place in her book and set in on her nightstand, "what's up?"

"Nothin. I just wanted to come in and see how you were doing after tonight. I talked to Ryan and he was too caught up on how hot Ashlyn is to really find the real reason for me asking, but I have a feeling you might have some more in depth comments," Kate smiled and told her.

"I don't really know. I mean, Ashlyn seems like a nice girl and I'm glad that Morgan is happy, but it hurt a little that she didn't tell me."

"You and me both, hun," Kate told her with a slight smile.

"I know. And it's like, we usually tell each other everything! So this was like a slap in the face to come home and have this girl sitting on the couch."

Kate put her hand on Alexis's leg comfortingly, "Of course. I understand that completely, and nobody blames you for feeling that way. I do think this is something that the two of you need to talk about."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I just don't want her to think that I'm not happy for her or that I don't like Ashlyn or anything like that, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it. She's my baby girl and I didn't even realize that she had been seeing someone, let alone that it was a girl!"

"Well it was a pretty genius plan," Alexis laughed.

"Very true. She might be too smart for her own good sometimes. And then other times she is not the sharpest tool in the shed."

"But we love her anyways!" They both laughed.

"We're kinda stuck wit her," Kate smirked, "But you're ok with Ashlyn being over here and everything? I asked Ryan the same question. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable in your own home."

"Of course I am. I honestly really like Ashlyn, and I'm kinda hoping I can pick her brain a little about NYU."

"Don't let your dad hear you talking about college," Kate joked, "I think he's got it is his mind that you're gonna stay in high school forever."

"Of course he does," Alexis laughed.

Kate smiled and patted her leg before standing up, leaning over and giving Alexis a kiss on the head like she did Ryan, "Don't stay up too late, hun."

"I'll try not to," Alexis smirked.

"Love you, Lex."

"Love you too, Kate."

Kate heaved a sigh as she closed Alexis's door behind her. 'Now on to the last one' Kate thought to herself as she walked to Morgan's room and opened the door to find her smiling down at her phone.

"I guess it's not as weird to see you smiling at your phone now that I know the reason behind it," Kate said with a smile as she leaned against the door jam.

"You should quit your job, become a comedian, and go out on the road, ma," Morgan smirked at her.

"And you should learn when it's appropriate to make sarcastic comments," Kate laughed and sat down next to her at the head of the bed.

"Actually, making sarcastic comments at inappropriate times is my best attribute."

"Don't I know it!" Kate laughed.

"So, come to remind me to use condoms? Tell me how easy it is to get pregnant?" Morgan laughed.

"Speaking of making stupid comments at inappropriate times," Kate chided and Morgan's smile quickly fell from her face, "Serious talk her for a minute, love."

"Alright, mom, you're scaring me a little. You're done handing out punishments, right?"

"Yes, Morgan, I'm not gonna punish you anymore, unless you don't start taking this seriously!"

"Ok, I'm sorry, mom. Serious time starts now!"

Kate thought for a second on how to start and where to start this conversation, "Ok, I know we talked a little about rules with Ashlyn here, but me and you need to talk some more about them."

"I don't understand why you're making such a big deal about the rules! We went over them when I was dating Todd. Is it because I'm dating a girl?" Morgan asked getting defensive.

"No, it's not, Morgan, and you know that. This is just a different situation than you've ever been in, and by the way you were looking at her tonight, I think Ashlyn will probably be around for quite some time."

"I love her, mom," Morgan said softly.

"I know baby girl, I can see it."

"So, rules?"

"Rules, right. I don't want you to think because you are dating a girl that the rules are different than before. Rick or I need to know where you two are at all times. No going over to her dorm without our permission, which honestly it might be a little bit until we're okay with that. There will be absolutely no skipping school. If you do, you will not have a basketball season this year. Next, we need you to be considerate of this family. That means no over excessive PDA in family areas, and when you two are in this room, door stays open, and nobody wants to be walking past and see something family members shouldn't see each other doing. Rick and I aren't stupid, we know at some point you two are going to start having sex. Please be smart. Wait until you are positive you are ready for that. It's a big step, and remember that I'm here for you to talk to at any time."

"Mom, you do know I've had sex before. I've talked to you about it!"

"Yes how could I forget?" Kate paused, remembering the night Morgan had come bursting through the front door and announced, rather hysterically, that she thought she was pregnant. Once Kate calmed her down she learned that Morgan and Todd had sex the night before, used a condom, and Morgan was on the pill. She had assured Morgan that she wasn't pregnant and they went from there.

"Yeah… that wasn't one of my brightest moments," Morgan admitted.

"Ya think?" Kate laughed.

"Hey! Be nice. All I had ever heard was the horror stories of people getting pregnant the first time they had sex!"

"I think you should stop watching those horrible TLC shows."

"Eh, you're probably right," Morgan admitted with a laugh.

Kate laughed with her, "Aren't I always?"

"Yeah, yeah… whatever," Morgan smirked.

"Alright, serious time again. Sex with someone you are truly in love with is a lot different than someone you might just like. It's a lot more intense and emotional. So I want you to be 100% sure that you are ready."

"I will, mom. And honestly, we've talked about it and Ashlyn understands and promised we would wait until I was ready. She keeps telling me that having sex with a girl is a lot different. Not just the physical aspect, I mean."

"It's just different, especially if you feel a real connection with the person," Kate told her.

"Yeah, I don't think there was ever a real connection between me and Tod-" Morgan stopped abruptly as she realized what her mom had just said, "-Wait! You've had sex with a girl?!"

Kate laughed at her daughter's reaction, "Yes, Morgan, I have."

"When? Who was it? Do I know her? Does Rick know? Does he know her? OH MY GOD! Is it Aunt Lanie?" Morgan rattled off.

"Oh god, Morgan! No! It's not Lanie! Ew, she's like my sister," Kate smacked her upside the head for that one, "It was a girl in college. Yes Rick knows, but he doesn't know her, nor does he know her name, and I plan to keep it that way. I already endure enough questions about it, don't need any more," Kate smirked.

"Ok, definitely didn't need to know that last part," Morgan commented with a disgusted look on her face.

"Oh, you'll get over it!"

"So, did you date her? Or just sleep with her? Why have you never told me?" Morgan rambled off some more questions.

"We never dated, just slept together a couple times, mostly after drinking. And I never told you because it was never relevant."

"Okay, touché. But now that you have told me, I want a story!"

"Alright, I met her freshman year at Stanford and we just clicked, became really good friends, and then one night at a frat part it just happened. And then it kept happening until I left."

"But you guys didn't have feelings for each other?"

"Well, I mean, I was definitely attracted to her, and if I had to guess she did have feelings, but it never went farther than sex."

"Have you talked to her since then?"

"No, I hadn't even thought about her until me and Rick talked about it. And then again tonight."

"What's her name?"

"Ha! I'm not telling you that! You'll go look her up on the Internet or something!" Kate laughed knowing exactly how her daughter's brain worked.

"Damn…" Morgan said defeated.

"I know you too well, my offspring."

"Yeah, it's scary," Morgan joked and they both laughed some more.

Kate turned serious again, "So how are you feeling after everything that happened tonight?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Morgan smirked and then schooled her features and continued, "Honestly, I feel like a 100 pound weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I wish I would've told you guys sooner and I feel bad for how Lex and Ryan found out, but I feel so much freer."

"I'm glad you're happy, sweetie. And maybe you should talk to your brother and sister sometime. They understand, but I'm not going to say it didn't hurt us all that you lied for this long, especially about something this big."

"I will," Morgan replied solemnly, "And I am really sorry for not telling you."

"I know you are, baby, and I forgive you," Kate finished with a kiss to Morgan's head as she wrapped her arm around her shoulders and leaned into her.

Morgan leaned her head on Kate's chest and snuggled up to her, "Thanks, mama."

The two sat in silence until Morgan's phone beeped, signaling a new message.

"Tell Ashlyn that you are talking about her with your mom," Kate smirked.

"She's saying goodnight anyways, no need to scare her before she falls asleep."

"She seems like a pretty good kid. You did good," Kate told her daughter.

"Yeah? I think so. She's pretty amazing," Morgan replied and got a far off look in her eye that Kate recognized oh so well.

"Oh God, my baby's in love!" Kate said with dramatics as though it had just sunk in.

Morgan laughed at how dramatic her mom was being, "Don't worry, mom, I'll wait for the grandkids for a little bit," Morgan joked.

"Don't even joke about that. I'm afraid the first grandchild I get is gonna be from your brother, and that is scary!"

"That is probably true, sadly," Morgan laughed, "Hey! If you need to, you can give him the box of condoms you gave me!"

"You're so resourceful!" Kate exclaimed with a smile and patted Morgan's cheek.

"I try," Morgan smirked.

"Alright kid, I'm gonna go to sleep. I suggest you do the same! And tomorrow, start working on that essay," Kate told Morgan.

"Aye aye cap'n," Morgan saluted her mom.

Kate leaned over and pulled Morgan into her arms, "I love you, my baby girl."

"I love you too, mom."

Kate let go of her and kissed her temple before exiting the room and walking downstairs to hers and Rick's room.

Morgan laid back in bed and thought back on the day she had and how lucky she was.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Hope you're still enjoying the story!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **This is kinda a filler chapter to set things up for the next chapter, where things will get interesting! Enjoy!

* * *

Morgan woke up the next morning to the sound of her alarm clock. She reached out blindly to shut it off. After lying in bed for another 5 minutes she grabbed her phone to check her texts, seeing that she had a text from Ashlyn from 10 minutes before her alarm went off:

_Good morning, love. Knowing you, you're probably still sleeping. But I'm up getting ready for class and I miss your face. Have a great day babe! Love you!_

Morgan's face lit up like the fourth of July as she read the text. She re-read it so that her sleep ridden mind could comprehend that it was real before she typed out her reply:

_Good morning you! I'll have you know that I am awake only 20 minutes later than you! I miss your face more. Come over after I get done at school? Love you too! (Still can't believe I get to say that to you) (:_

Morgan set her phone back on her nightstand to get up and start getting ready for school. Once she was all ready to go, she grabbed her backpack and her phone and made her way downstairs to eat breakfast with the rest of her family, who were all down there eating already.

"What? No early workout this morning, squirt?" Rick asked with a laugh.

"No," Kate butted in quickly, "She doesn't need to workout anymore outside of school since she won't be skipping weight training ever again."

Morgan walked over and pulled out her seat to sit down next to Kelly who was having fun mushing her banana up in her fingers, "Oh, ha-ha. You two are real comedians."

"Could it be? The queen of comebacks is stumped!" Rick exclaimed as he continued to tease her.

"I will admit to being stuck at the moment, but that's only because I am still tired," Morgan pouted as she stuck out her tongue at him.

"What is it with you two and your damn tongues," Kate asked slightly annoyed with the two, knowing that Kelly would soon repeat the gesture in a non appropriate setting, "Keep it up and neither of you will have a tongue to stick out."

"Uh oh, sis. Better be careful. You'll need that if you want your girlfriend to stick around," Ryan teased.

"Ryan!" Kate scolded her son from across the table while Rick and Alexis burst out laughing and Morgan buried her head in her hands in embarrassment.

Rick slyly reached his hand across the table for a high five, which Ryan eagerly reciprocated.

"Rick! Don't encourage him," Kate chastised her husband, who quickly retracted his hand as if he had been burned.

"Can we please refrain from joking about my sex life at the table?" Morgan pleaded.

"Oh you can dish it out, but you can't take it?" Ryan asked.

Kelly, who had been surprisingly quiet all morning too interested in her bananas, finally spoke up, "Sex!"

Rick and Kate both turned to her with comical looks on their faces.

"Nice going, Mo, you've already corrupted our two year old sister," Ryan commented.

Kate told her youngest, "That's not a word for little girls, Kel. Your sister shouldn't be saying that," she finished with a glare at Morgan.

"Mom's right, little one," Morgan told Kelly, "That's a bad word and you can't ever repeat it to anyone!"

Kelly seemed to somewhat understand what they were saying as she shrugged and went right back to mushing her bananas and eating her cheerios.

"No more," Kate told the kids in her detective voice.

All three teenagers found a sudden interest in their food.

After the rest of a quiet breakfast, the three teens got up and cleared their plates and got their stuff together to walk out the door.

"Have a good day, guys," Rick called after them from the table.

"You too," came back from all the kids.

Kate got up and hugged all of the teens to say goodbye. As they were walking out the door, Morgan stopped and turned back to her parents, "Oh yeah! Ashlyn's coming over after school! K, bye!"

"Hold up! Try again," Kate told her before she could get out the door.

"Mom, Rick, is it ok if Ashlyn comes over after school?" Morgan rephrased and asked sickeningly cute.

Rick just laughed as Kate replied, "Of course. Now get out of here, kid!"

"Love you!" Morgan called from the door before she shut it.

"Yeah. You too!" Kate called back right as she shut the door.

Morgan rushed to catch up with her sibling at the elevator before it could close.

"So… since I have you both here," Morgan started looking at her siblings as the elevator descended floor by floor, "I want to apologize for how you guys found out about Ashlyn. I promise I had planned on telling you guys and having you guys ambushed like that wasn't cool. So.. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," Ryan replied automatically as Morgan pulled him into a side hug.

"Thanks, bro," the two then looked expectedly at Alexis.

"Of course I forgive you!" Alexis laughed and joined the hug.

"Love you guys," Morgan said and let go of her siblings.

"Love you too," they both replied as they all made their way out of the elevator on the ground floor.

Morgan got a text back from Ashlyn on her walk to school:

_As long as your parents are ok with it, I'll be there_!

Morgan sent her a quick text back saying that it was ok and she would text her after school.

The rest of the day went by at a snail's pace for Morgan. It was a lot different having to actually spend the whole day in school, and she hated it. After nearly falling asleep twice in 4th period, she finally heard the bell ring. She jumped out of her seat, pulled out her phone, and walked towards her locker chatting with a few of her friends from the team along the way.

She sent a text to Ashlyn telling her she was out and on her way home and for Ashlyn to head over when she was ready.

After she sent the text she saw a text from her mom saying they had caught a case late and that Kelly was at Gramps and that she needed to call her on their way home.

She met up with Alexis and Ryan in the courtyard and they made their way back to the loft, talking about their days as they went.

After they had all caught up, Morgan pulled out her phone and dialed her mom at work.

"Detective Beckett," her mom answered the phone.

"Hey mom. You said to call on our way home, so here I am…"

"Oh right! So Rick and I are gonna be late tonight. Kelly is with Gramps and you guys know where the money is to use to order dinner."

"Okay, mom. We got it."

"Hang on a sec," her mom told her and she could hear her giving instructions to Espo and Ryan, "Alright, Morgan? You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"Okay, we don't mind if Ashlyn still comes over, but you better follow the rules, young lady. And I want that essay sitting on the counter by the time we get home."

"Okay, mom. Thanks!"

"I'm serious, Morgan. Door open at all times. I don't want to hear from your siblings that your door was closed even for a second. And don't think I won't find out. I have special ways of getting information out of your brother."

"Mom, I get it. Door open. Essay done. I promise, no fun will be had while you're not home." Morgan laughed.

"Funny. Okay I gotta go. Love you guys!"

"We love you, too!" Morgan told her and then hung up the phone and slipped it into her pocket.

"Parentals will be late tonight," She told her siblings as they walked, "We're on our own for dinner and we aren't allowed to have any fun," she joked, "Oh, and Ashlyn is coming over, if that's still cool with you guys."

"Awesome! Maybe I can get her to play Call of Duty with me!" Ryan exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah, ok, whatever, nerd," Morgan replied as they walked into the building.

"What are you guys thinking for dinner?" Alexis asked, as they got not the elevator.

"Pizza? or Chinese? or Remy's?" Morgan shot off a couple suggestions.

"Remy's!" Ryan yelled automatically.

"I guess Remy's it is, then," Alexis said as her and Morgan laughed.

The elevator stopped on their floor and the three excited the lift heading towards the front door to find Ashlyn sitting outside playing on her phone.

As soon as Morgan saw her sitting there she ran up to her, giving her just enough time to stand up, and jumped in her arms with a hug around her neck and her legs wrapped around her waist.

"Oof," Ashlyn exclaimed as she caught her girlfriend, just barely, "I take it you're happy to see me?" she asked with a chuckle.

"You know I am," Morgan replied with a kiss, still not letting her girlfriend set her down.

Alexis and Ryan walked up with smiles on their faces at the scene in front of them.

"Damn, sis. Let the girl breathe," Ryan said with a smirk.

Ashlyn laughed before greeting the two as best as she could with her girlfriend in her arms, "Hey guys."

They waited for Alexis to unlock the door before they walked in, Morgan still clinging to Ashlyn like a koala.

Alexis and Ryan went straight upstairs to dump their stuff in their rooms as Ashlyn walked her and Morgan over to the couch, laying Morgan down with herself on top. Ashlyn pulled back just enough to attach her lips to Morgan's. The two kissed as though it had been weeks since they'd last seen each other, hands roamed and tongues clashed until the both pulled apart for air.

"Hey, love," Ashlyn said with a dreamy smile.

Morgan's hands continued to run up and down Ashlyn's back, "Hey babe."

"How was your day?'

"Long. Boring. Stupid," Morgan pouted.

"Aw. I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Ashlyn laughed, "Where are your parents?" she asked.

"They're gonna be late, they caught a case."

"I see. Am I still allowed to be here then?"

"Yeah, babe. They said it was fine. I just have to finish that stupid essay my mom is making me write before they get home.

"Sounds good," Ashlyn said as she started to climb off of Morgan. Before she could move very far, Morgan was pulling her back down and reattaching their lips. Like always, the kiss turned heated. Morgan's lets still wrapped around Ashlyn, and her hands in her hair and around her neck, Ashlyn leaning on her forearms braced next to Morgan's head.

Before either of them could think of furthering their exploits, footsteps came down the stairs and they pulled apart, breathless.

"Well isn't this a nice scene to walk in on," Alexis smirked as Ashlyn detached herself from Morgan and sat up.

"Oh hush, Lex," Morgan shot back her sister with a smile, "Don't act like I never walked in on you and Owen in the same position."

"Touché," Alexis replied and laughed, "You guys want a snack or anything?"

Morgan looked to Ashlyn who shrugged her shoulders noncommittally before she told Alexis, "We'll just have whatever you're having!"

Alexis grabbed a couple apples out of the fruit basket not the counter and began slicing them. Ryan walked straight into the living room and plopped down on the couch with the remote in his hand.

Ryan turned on his side to get a better look at his sister and her girlfriend who were sitting on the couch next to him, "So… Ashlyn…" he started, effectively getting their attention, "You wanna get your ass beat at COD?"

"You're on!" Ashlyn replied excitedly. Ryan hopped up to get everything set up and Ashlyn and Morgan re-situated themselves. Morgan grabbed her computer out of her laptop and sat with her back against the arm of the couch and her legs outstretched with her feet in Ashlyn's lap.

After Ryan got the PS4 all set up, he walked Ashlyn's controller over to her and then sat back on his couch.

Alexis walked over and sat a plate down with apples and peanut butter on it on the coffee table in the middle of all of them and then made her way to the recliner.

"Ready to get beat by a 14 year old?" Ryan taunted Ashlyn.

"Oh, little boy, you're in for a world of disappointment if you think that's gonna happen," Ashlyn replied.

The two quickly became engrossed in the game, Morgan was trying to type up her essay, and Alexis was reading a book.

After Ashlyn and Ryan had finished their 5th game, with Ashlyn winning 4 out of the 5, they all decided it was time for dinner.

"How's that essay coming, Mo?" Alexis asked with a smirk.

"I only have 150 words left!" she replied enthusiastically as she wiggled her feet in Ashlyn's lap.

Ashlyn put her hand over Morgan's feet comfortingly, "Maybe you'll actually get it done before your mom gets home then, eh?"

"Or maybe, I could only type 999 words and see if she even notices," Morgan joked.

"Yeah… see how well that works out for ya," Alexis told her knowingly.

"True, mom has weird was of knowing everything," Ryan cuts in and shudders visibly as he remembers some of the stuff he got caught doing, which made everybody laugh at him.

"Alright. What do you guys want from Remy's? I'll call it in," Alexis asked getting ready to call in their order.

"Cheeseburger and fries," Ryan told her with little hesitation.

Morgan wiggled her feet again in Ashlyn's lap to get her to say what she wanted.

"Oh. Uhm.. I've never ate there, so I'll just get whatever Morgan does.."

"Alright then. Two bacon cheeseburgers with fries and vanilla milkshakes," Morgan gives her usual order to her sister with a smile.

"Got it," Alexis told them and dialed the number for Remy's.

While Alexis was calling the restaurant, Morgan slung her feet off Ashlyn's lap and sat up, putting her computer back in her backpack and picking it up, "We're gonna run upstairs real quick," she told Ryan as she grabbed Ashlyn's hand and pulled her up from the couch.

The two walked towards the stairs as Ryan called out, "Don't forget to leave your door open!" with a laugh.

"Shut up, weirdo," Morgan yelled back as they walked up the stairs and into her room.

Morgan threw her backpack in the chair that sat in the corner of her room as Ashlyn looked around the room in awe and quickly walked up to all of the trophies that lined the shelves in her girlfriend's room. After she had taken in all of the trophies she made her way over to the other wall that had a collage of photos on it, "Awww look at how cute you were!" Ashlyn exclaimed pointing to a picture of a younger Morgan and Ryan at the beach looking up at the camera with matching smiles plastered on their faces.

"Were?" Morgan asked with fake hurt in her voice.

"Are. Definitely are," Ashlyn told her and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, "So very cute," she whispered as she leaned down to capture Morgan's lips, "Beautiful," she murmured against her lips, "Gorgeous,"… "Stunning."

Morgan pulled back from Ashlyn, "I love you, you know?"

"Good. Cause I'm kinda in love with you too."

"Better be," Morgan joked and walked the two over towards her bed so they could lie down and get comfortable. Once they were laying down facing each other Morgan started again, "So, I've been thinking…"

"Don't hurt yourself," Ashlyn smirked and ran her hand through Morgan's hair, something Morgan found out Ashlyn liked to do early on in their relationship.

"Hey!" Morgan pouted, "Don't be an asshole."

"I'm sorry, babe. What have you been thinking about?"

"Sex," Morgan said bluntly.

"Okay…" Ashlyn said hesitantly, "Like sex with me? Or just sex in general? Cause I gotta tell ya, I'm not so well educated on the heterosexual kind," she smirked while laughing at her own joke.

"Come on, babe. Serious time," Morgan pleaded.

"Ok. Serious time," Ashlyn reiterated, still running her hand through Morgan's hair, "What did you want to talk about, about sex?"

"Sex with me and you," Morgan answered.

"Babe, you know that I don't want you to feel any way pressured into sex. There is no rush, I want you to be completely ready. I don't care if that's 3 years down the road, I just want you to be sure that it's what you want."

"I think I am," Morgan told her shyly, "Ready that is."

Ashlyn's hand paused it's movement in her hair as she thought about how to reply, "Are you really sure? Or do you just think that now that we've said 'I love you' that you have to?"

"No. I don't think that. I mean it helped me come to the conclusion because now I'm not so scared of my feelings for you, but I've been thinking about it and I'm ready."

"Okay." Ashlyn said.

"Okay? What does that mean?"

"It means that I will start planning on how I intend to woo you and then make love to you," Ashlyn replied.

"Babe, I don't need some grand gesture or anything," Morgan tried to tell her, "I just need you to be there and to love me."

"I know you don't need it, but you deserve it. And you'll always have me, and I will always love you. No matter what."

"How did I get so lucky to find you?" Morgan asked in awe of her girlfriend.

"I ask myself that everyday," Ashlyn told her before moving in for a kiss. Ashlyn grasped the back of Morgan's neck to hold her there as her lips began working against her girlfriend's.

Morgan's body melted into Ashlyn's with a moan escaping her lips. The slip of Ashlyn's tongue against her own had her forgetting everything in that moment besides Ashlyn.

In a quick, fluid motion, Morgan rolled on top of Ashlyn and had her pinned to the mattress, without breaking the kiss. Ashlyn moved her hands up and down Morgan's back, who let out another moan at the contact.

By the time either of them realized how far the kiss had gotten, Ashlyn had her hands underneath Morgan's shirt, running them over her toned stomach and up her sides nearing her bra.

Ashlyn pulled back slightly at the feel of Morgan's bra underneath her fingertips, "Well then…" She smirked out of breath.

"How about I go close my door and we continue this with where it was going."

"Babe… You know we can't. Your siblings are right downstairs and any minute dinner is going to be here. Plus we have to respect your parents if we expect to be able to see each other. And I don't want our first time to be some quickie in your room hoping your brother doesn't walk in," Ashlyn told her.

"Ugh. Why do you have to be so responsible?"

"Well one of us does," Ashlyn laughed, "Don't worry, love, it'll happen… soon, if I have any say in it," she smiled.

Morgan just leaned down for another kiss before rolling off of Ashlyn to get off the bed and straighten her clothes and hair out.

"Love birds! Dinner's here!" Alexis called up the stairs.

Morgan grabbed her computer out of her backpack and the two made their way down the stairs to join Alexis and Ryan.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Next chapter will go in to more of the Beckett family backstory and how they all got to where they are. There will be two more chapters and then the ones after that will be jumping time a little bit here and there! Hope you're still enjoying this story! Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **This is one of my shorter chapters, but there's some backstory in it.

* * *

The four ate dinner in front of the TV and once they were done Morgan pulled out her computer to finish her essay.

By the time she put the last period on her essay she was at 1,014 words and Ashlyn was leaning against her side watching the TV. It was now 8:30 and she was wondering what time her parents would actually make it home. She printed the essay and made sure it was in plain sight for her mom to see when they got home

"Hey nerd," Morgan called to her brother to get his attention, "You finish all your homework?"

"Yeah moooom," He joked back at her.

"Hey! I'm just looking out for you," she laughed.

"I know, sis. But yes I did it already. Just need to shower and I'll be ready for bed."

"Alright. After this show is over how about you do that, okay?"

"Got it," he told her.

Morgan turned to Ashlyn; "You wanna come upstairs while I get ready for bed?"

"Sure, love."

"Alright, we're gonna head upstairs. Ry, I'm serious; after this show! Lex, make sure he does, please," Morgan said to her siblings.

"I got it covered, Mo," Alexis assured her with a smile.

The couple made their way back up the stairs and into Morgan's room. Morgan grabbed some clothes to change into and went into the bathroom to shower, having told Ashlyn to make herself comfortable and that she'd only be a couple minutes.

Morgan stepped under the hot spray and let it pelt her body and wash the day away. Her muscles were sore from the workout they did today in weight training and she knew a hot shower would help with that.

By the time Morgan made it back into her bedroom Ashlyn was fast asleep on her bed. She went over and joined her girlfriend, hoping not to wake her, but was unsuccessful as Morgan saw Ashlyn's blue eyes open.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty," Morgan smiled.

"Mmm, sorry I fell asleep, love," Ashlyn replied.

"It's okay, baby. Go back to sleep if you're tired. I'm just gonna snuggle up to you."

"I love your cuddles," Ashlyn told her sleepily.

"I love you!" Morgan laughed.

"I love you, too," Ashlyn smiled and kissed Morgan, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Morgan replied hesitantly.

"What's the story with your biological dad?"

"You want the whole story?" Morgan asked her.

"I want whatever you're comfortable with telling me…" Ashlyn told her, "Or if you don't want to talk about it, I understand."

"No. It's fine. Let's just get comfortable, cause this could take a while," Morgan said as she got up to turn off the bedroom light, but made sure to leave the door open, and went back to the bed where her and Ashlyn got under the covers and snuggled up.

Once they were comfortable, with Morgan's head on Ashlyn's chest and an arm around her stomach, and Ashlyn's arm around her shoulders, Morgan began, "So, my mom was 17 when she met him and from what she's told me they were in love. They dated for 3 months before she got pregnant with me, and when I was a couple months old, grandma was murdered. Mom took it really hard and grandpa didn't handle it well either, so all mom had was dad to be there for her. They got married and then, what? 3 years later they had Ryan and by this time mom was on the fast track for detective. She was spending what little free time she had investigating grandma's murder, so she wasn't home a lot, but they seemed to be fine. It wasn't like we felt neglected from her or anything like that, we would all get lunch or go somewhere special on weekends and have family time. Although, I do remember times when mom wouldn't even come home at night, but it never seemed to faze dad, he always seemed so supportive and loving. A lot like Rick in that way, I guess. So one day when I was 8 and Ry was 5, we were all home together and dad got a phone call from work and they wanted him to move to DC for a promotion, and he took it. Right on the spot he took it, I guess thinking mom would follow him out there. He didn't even talk to mom about it. So they got in this huge fight and Gramps came and got me and Ryan and took us to his house, and the next day mom and dad sat us down and told us that dad was moving and they were getting a divorce and told us we would be staying with mom. He just kinda dumped us. I guess to me, it felt like he didn't even put up a fight for us, and that hurt. We went and visited him every now and then or he would come see us, but it was never the same. He started drinking more and more and by the time I was 14 I decided I didn't want to go see him anymore and be stuck with him while he was drunk. So now he only calls occasionally and on birthdays, and he'll drop by un-announced if a case brings him into the city," Morgan finished and noticed Ashlyn's grip around her shoulders had tightened and Ashlyn kissed the top of Morgan's head.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, babe. He is missing out on seeing the amazing woman you are," Ashlyn told her sincerely. Morgan leaned up and captured Ashlyn's lips in a slow, lazy kiss.

"I think everything happens for a reason, if dad hadn't taken that job, who knows what would've happened. And I know that mom is more in love with Rick than she ever was with dad, so that makes it easier to handle. There are days that go by that I don't even think about dad anymore. I used to call him after every game I played to tell him my stats and listen to him say how proud of me he was, but I don't even do that anymore."

"Did you ever resent Rick? Or hate that he and your mom were together in the beginning?"

"God, no. They spent so much time dancing around each other that when they finally got together I wanted to jump for joy!" Morgan laughed, "I think it probably helped that we got to know Rick and Alexis so well before they did start dating that once they did everything just flowed easily."

"How did you guys find out that they were dating?"

"Well ever since Mom was comfortable enough around Rick and knew that he was going to be her partner for a while, the 5 of us hung out a lot. Ryan and Rick got along so well and Alexis, mom, and me would do our own thing. So then a couple years ago all of a sudden we stopped hanging out with them. Alexis and I got together and figured out that they had this huge fight, so we hatched a plan to get them to see what we had all been seeing for 4 years. I like to think they got together because of us, but in reality I think mom just came to her senses and figured out that Rick was the love of her life. Martha had came and stayed with us kids that night at our old apartment and the next morning we were heading over to the loft and, let's just say they definitely weren't expecting us to be home…" Morgan trailed off with a look of disgust.

"That sounds interesting," Ashlyn admitted with a chuckle, "But all in all, I think you've got a pretty great family, Mo."

"Yeah, I think so too. Plus now I have a pretty amazing girlfriend, so my life is pretty spectacular," Morgan smiled up at Ashlyn.

"I am pretty amazing, if I do say so myself," Ashlyn teased.

"I love you so much," Morgan told her.

"I love you too."

They continued to talk about lighter things and before Ashlyn knew it, she was having a conversation with herself because Morgan had fallen asleep. Ashlyn lay there and looked down at her girlfriend wrapped up in her arms fast asleep, thinking about how beautiful she was while she slept, before sleep overtook her as well.

Ashlyn woke up to something nudging her arm lightly; she slowly opened her eyes until they focused on the object in front of her, who happened to be her girlfriend's mom.

* * *

How do you think Kate is going to handle this situation? If there's anything you guys want to see happen sometime during this story, let me know and I'll try to work it in! Thanks for reading! Hope you're enjoying!


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** I've noticed from some of the reviews that some people are upset that this story is just about Morgan, and I am very sorry if I mislead you in any way to think that, but that was my intention with this story, to be focused around Morgan (and Ashlyn). It is what I've had in my mind since I started writing this story a long time ago. I do hope that you will stick around and read the story still! After this chapter, the story will begin to skip ahead from time to time. Enjoy!

* * *

Ashlyn automatically jumped, scared out of her mind, with Morgan still in her arms sound asleep. Her mind immediately went into overdrive and what this could look like to Morgan's mom, who she had barely even met and was now standing over her with a disapproving look on her face.

"Detective Beckett! I promise this isn't what it looks like," Ashlyn got out in a rushed whisper, still trying not to wake Morgan, although maybe having her girlfriend awake for this wouldn't be a bad thing, she thought.

"So you two didn't fall asleep after having sex?" Kate asked with a straight face.

"What?! No! I promise! We didn't have sex. I told her no-"

"Wait, what?" Kate cut her off at that point with a confused look on her face.

"Wait! No! That's not what I meant. I'm still asleep. We were just talking and she fell asleep and I didn't want to wake her, so I watched her sleep, not creepily or anything, but then I guess I fell asleep too," Ashlyn rambled off.

"Hey," Kate reached out and put her hand on Ashlyn's arm to calm her down, "Calm down. I'm just messing with you," Kate smiled.

"Oh, thank God," Ashlyn said with a sigh of relief, "That was mean!"

"I know. But I couldn't help myself. What time do you have class tomorrow? Or today, I guess," Kate corrected herself as she looked at the clock on Morgan's nightstand which read 1:36.

"Uhh… Not until 11…"

"Okay. Go back to sleep then. Just get up with Morgan, k?"

"Are you sure? Cause I can go if you want me to! I feel really bad about this."

"No. That would only wake Morgan up and then you'd have to go all the way back to campus, so it's not worth it. Just, no funny business, okay?" Kate told her with a stern look, although it faltered a little when she took in Ashlyn's still frightened facial expression.

"Uh, yes ma'am, I promise. Thank you."

"Just don't get used to it, okay?" Kate smirked.

"Yes ma'am," Ashlyn replied right as Morgan let out a long sigh and cuddled into her some more.

"Alright. We'll see you for breakfast, then," Kat said as she got up to leave, "Goodnight Ashlyn."

"Goodnight, Mrs. Castle.. Uh.. ma'am."

"Just Kate is fine, Ashlyn," Kate smirked.

"Uhm, of course, ma'am- Kate."

Kate walked out and shut the door behind her and Ashlyn let the breath out that had been trapped in her lungs since she was woken.

The next morning Morgan woke to her alarm playing the annoying sound that she really needed to change. She threw her arm out from under the covers to find it and shut it off. Once that task was completed, she snuggled back into the very comfortable lump next to her.

She wasn't awake enough to figure out what said lump was, but it was comfortable so she didn't put much thought into it, until she remembered the night before. Then her eyes flew open to find her girlfriend lying in bed next to her.

"Oh my god!" she shot up, "Ashlyn! Get up!" she shook her girlfriend to wake her up.

"Mmm… stop. Go back to sleep," Ashlyn mumbled still half asleep.

"No. You have to get up and out of the loft before my parents see you!"

"It's too late for that," Ashlyn told her and tried to pull her back down on the bed.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked hesitantly.

"Your mom came in last night and woke me up to torture me and then told me I could stay, but not to make a habit of it."

"What do you mean torture you?"

"Babe, it's too early for so many questions," Ashlyn whined, "My brain isn't working properly."

"Ugh, fine. But she wasn't mad?"

"Gee, that sure did sound like another question to me," Ashlyn laughed, until she saw the look on her girlfriend's face and stopped, "No, Mo. She wasn't mad. I mean, I don't think she was. She might've been. I don't know! I was half asleep and about to pee my pants from terror for most of our conversation."

"Fuck," Morgan said under her breath, thinking about how much trouble she could get in for this stunt, "Well, I guess we'll find out soon. I'm gonna go brush my teeth, you wanna come? I think we have extra tooth brushes."

"Yes, please!" Ashlyn replied enthusiastically, remembering the she hadn't brushed her teeth last night.

Morgan helped pull her up from the bed and the two made their way across the hall to the bathroom to brush their teeth.

Once they were done, Morgan led her downstairs and to the table where the rest of her family was already sitting and eating their breakfast.

Kate looked up from where she was telling Kelly to eat her food and not play with it, "Good morning you two," she smirked seeing the fear in Morgan's eyes.

"Morning, mom," Morgan replied sheepishly.

Ryan looked up from his plate to see Ashlyn accompanying his sister, "Sis, you do know you're supposed to wake up before everyone to sneak your girlfriend out, right?"

"Oh shut it, weirdo. She's not sneaking out."

"Wait, what?" Ryan asked and then looked to his mom for confirmation.

"It's true. We knew she was here still," Kate told her son.

"Cool! So our girlfriends can spend the night now?" He asked excitedly.

"Do you even have a girlfriend?" Alexis cut in with a laugh.

"Well, no, but when I do…"

"-No!" Kate cut him off quickly before he could finish his thought, "This was a special circumstance and it is not going to be an everyday occurrence," Kate finished as she looked at Morgan, who was now very interested in her cereal.

Morgan and Ashlyn both nodded in understanding.

"Ashwyn!" Kelly yelled from her high chair, which had the whole family looking towards her and laughing.

"Hi, Kelly," Ashlyn said to her, with a big smile on her face.

"Hi!" Kelly replied, "Oh's!" she continued as she held out a hand with Cheerios stuck in it.

"Yeah. Do you like Oh's?" Ashlyn asked.

"Nummy!" Kelly laughed heartily and then continued eating as though nothing had happened.

"Well, it seems someone is smitten," Rick said after witnessing the integration between his daughter and her sister's girlfriend.

"So what was the case from last night?" Morgan asked her parents, trying to suck up.

"Oh, it was so cool," Rick began excitedly, "This guy was found murdered in one of those old abandoned mental hospitals and all of his limbs were torn off!"

"Ew, dad!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Ok, Rick, how about we save the shop talk for when we're not at the table?" Kate told him, "But we shouldn't be late again tonight, but if we are, you guys know the drill," Kate addressed the teens.

"No fun allowed," Morgan laughed.

"Watch it, kid, you're still skating on thin ice here," Kate shot back at her.

Morgan quickly shut her mouth while everybody else around the table smiled widely, trying to suppress their laughter.

"As I was saying, we put more money in the drawer for dinner and Kelly will be at dad's again, so you won't have to worry about her."

"Alright, mom, we got it," Morgan said as she got up to put her and Ashlyn's dishes in the sink.

"Okay, Alexis, Ryan, you two go get ready for school please," Kate told the two and they made their way upstairs without a word, knowing what was going to happen downstairs.

Morgan grabbed Ashlyn's hand and tried to get her up the stairs before her mom saw them and could talk to them.

"Hey, you two, sit back down, please." Kate called calmly after them before they could get a foot on the stairs.

The two walked back to the table solemnly and sat down before looking up at Kate and Rick.

"Now, shall we discuss what happened last night?"

"Ya know, I'd really rather not…" Morgan replied with a smile, trying to lighten the conversation a little.

"Too bad, we're going to whether you want to or not."

"Then why even ask?" Morgan said under her breath, but apparently loud enough for her mom to hear.

"I was trying to be nice. But if you'd rather I wasn't, that can be arranged."

"No! Please continue with the nice route!"

"Alright. I already tortured Ashlyn enough last night, so I think we'll get right down to business."

"We just fell asleep! I don't see the big deal," Morgan defended.

"The big deal is that apparently we now need to set more rules so that we can assure this doesn't happen again," Kate told her seriously.

"Look," Rick cut in before it got ugly, "We aren't saying that what happened last night was all that bad, we just know what could have happened, and we think it would be best if you two refrain from any sleepovers for the near future."

"This is ridci-" Morgan began.

"Of course," Ashlyn cut her off before she could dig herself an even bigger hold, "And I'm really sorry about everything. I promise that was not supposed to happen."

"We get it, honestly. We don't think you two planned on it happening, but it did. So this conversation had to happen," Rick reminded them.

"Of course. I promise it won't happen again," Ashlyn assured them. She looked next to her and saw Morgan stewing in her madness. Ashlyn reached over and grabbed her hand with a squeeze, "Right, babe?"

"I mean, I don't want to say it's never gonna happen again. But I can promise it won't happen again for a little while," Morgan told them.

"Well, thank you for that reassurance," Kate replied sarcastically.

"It's the best I can do."

Ashlyn gave her hand another squeeze so that she would look up at her and see the 'you can do better than that' look she was giving her.

Morgan sighed loudly, "Fine. It won't happen again for a long time or until you two are okay with it," she finished and looked back to Ashlyn as if asking if that was ok. Ashlyn nodded in silent reply with a smirk.

"Oh, I like her," Rick exclaimed with a laugh, "Not many people can make you do something like that with only a look. She'll come in handy!"

Ashlyn and Kate laughed at that while Morgan pouted playfully.

"Is that all?" Morgan asked her parents.

"Yeah. Now go get ready for school," Kate told her with a smile.

"I'm gonna head out," Ashlyn said to Morgan as they stood from the table. She then turned to Kate and Rick, "I know it shouldn't have happened, but thanks for letting me stay last night." she told them and then shook both of their hands.

"I'll walk you out," Morgan told her.

"Quickly please, Mo," Kate told her daughter with a smirk.

"Aye aye, cap'n," Morgan said back with a small salute and a smile.

The two walked hand in hand to the elevator and got on to head down to the bottom floor.

"What time are you done with classes today?" Morgan asked her.

"I have my anatomy lab today, so it just depends on how long that lasts. Latest it would be is 5 though."

"You wanna come over again tonight?"

"Of course, love. Just make sure you're parents are okay with it, yeah? I don't want them thinking we're spending too much time together."

Morgan got a skeptical look on her face, "Do you think we're spending too much time together?"

Taken back by the question, Ashlyn quickly turned to Morgan and grabbed her head in her hands, "Hey, of course not. I just don't want them to feel like we are. This is all very new to them and after what happened last night maybe we should cool it for a day or two," Morgan looked down at the ground, "Hey, if I could, I would spend every waking moment with you."

"I don't get why we can't then?" Morgan told her.

"Babe. Think back on the past 72 hours and realize what we have thrown on your family. I'm sure they need time to process all of this and me being around won't help that. Plus, let's not forget that technically, you're still grounded. Your parents were nice enough to still allow me to come over, but we don't want to take advantage of it, cause that would be a long 3 weeks not being able to see you!"

The elevator dinged, signaling their arrival on the first floor, so Ashlyn let got of Morgan's face and grabbed her hand instead and they exited the lift.

"Yeah, I guess I see where you're coming from. Doesn't mean I like it though," Morgan pouted.

"Trust me, I don't either. But how about we hold off on tonight, and we'll see about me coming over tomorrow."

"Alright, that sounds fair."

"Perfect. I'll text you when I get back to campus. I love you," Ashlyn told her and leaned in for a kiss.

"Love you too," Morgan pulled her back in for a couple more quick kisses before letting her go and heading back upstairs.


End file.
